The Taming of the Wolf
by MissCloud
Summary: Brooklyn wants Tyson, but so does Hilary. And Tyson is only allowed to date when step brother Tala starts to, but being the wild wolf of the high school, most people are afraid of him. Unless... someone is hired? KaiTala TyHil Highschool. COMPLETE
1. Who's That Guy?

I thought this would be fun to write! :)

Oookay, so this is set in a high school, I'll try to make it as original as possible, and because it is based off the movie **10 Things I Hate About You**, it should come out okay seeing as that movie is just awesome!!! You don't need to have seen it to read this though :)

Pairings: It's kind of complicated, but not really... KaiTala, TyHil, and some interferences, and some others that aren't as important.

Italics: _Thinking_

I DO NOT OWN BEYBLADE OR 10 THINGS.

Contains: **CRUDE WORDS**, **SEXUAL REFERENCES**. Not for the faint hearted. There will be no graphic lemons in this story, hence the T. :)

Please enjoy :)

* * *

**The Taming of the Wolf**

Who's That Guy?

Miss. Woppit was sat at her desk, fingers busy on her beloved laptop, looking completely contempt with what she was doing. She looked way too busy to be disturbed, so for a moment, the girl remained at the door, looking in ponderously.

"Come in dear, I don't bite... _girls_..." Without so much looking up, she spoke as though she knew the girl at the door had been stood there for ages, yet not said anything... for some reason she couldn't quite work out. Nevertheless, the nervous girl swallowed and walked in.

"Uhm, I'm new here, it's Tatibana. Hilary Tatibana."

On that note, the clicking of the keyboard keys stopped. She raised her head and through her big, almost misty glasses, stared at the new brunette with somewhat alarm.

"Oh," She immediately closed her laptop and held out her hand. "Do sit down. Ignore the pun, by the way."

Hilary raised an eyebrow whilst sitting down at the opposite end of the desk. "What pun?"

Miss. Woppit fluttered her eyes innocently and grinned. "Nothing! So... you're the new addition. Oh, but of course, here at Shrew High, it's not all addition, algebra- it's about finding who_ you_ are, expressing your freedom through your work and the wonderful people you will meet."

Suddenly a mud ball splat against the window, causing Hilary to jerk.

"See? Wonderful people!" The Counsellor grinned, and took off her glasses.

"Oh, yes, I'm excited about making new friends," Hilary said, finally finding a way to smile.

"Yeees, I'm sure you will, love... now, I presume you've already seen the Principal? What class do you have now? Oh, and while you're here..." Hilary looked on curiously as Miss. Woppit dived into her draw and pulled out a leaflet. She slammed it in front of Hilary and grinned. "A sexual health flyer. Just in case."

Hilary's eyes widened. "O-Oh..."

"Oh, no need to be embarrassed. It's a perfectly natural thing for kids your age to want to touch each other. I'm your sex education teach, by the way," Hilary's eyes widened even more. "Aaand if you ever have any other problems, you come see me, that's what I'm here for." She pointed at a notice on the wall that read:

_Miss. Woppit_

_Guidance Counsellor._

_Talk to me!_

"Duh. Haha," The woman glanced at the clock. "The coc--clock," She cleared her throat. "AHEM. Excuse me, clock is wrong. You are actually five minutes late for your first lesson, now. Sorry about that."

Now Hilary's eyes had just about popped out of their sockets. "I'm a little... confused. Have I walked into the wrong school? What is this?"

Obviously, Miss. Woppit noticed her bemusement. "It's called high school dear, you'll hear the term 'cock' quite a lot here. With my job you never escape the word. You obviously haven't ventured far enough. I'll have one of my prefects give you a guide."

"I wasn't referring to... that.. but... oh..." It was hard to speak when your mouth was hanging open like a horse singing opera.

"Of course you weren't. And I don't mean a guide to the depths of underpants, either."

"I-I would have never of guessed," The brunette blushed, rolling her eyes.

And out of all the positive things she could be thinking about, like meeting new people, there was only one thing that she pondered. Good God. Just what sort of school had she joined?

---

"Mariah Wong," Hilary stared at the girl's hand for a second, wondering whether she was going to turn out just as weird and twisted as the counsellor. It seemed all fine so far, she looked okay, held a friendly smile, and apart from having bright pink hair, she seemed normal...

She finally took her hand and shook it quite timidly. "Hilary Tatibana, I'm new here."

Mariah raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, I know. That's why I'm your guide."

Hilary didn't fail to hide her surprise. "O-Oh! It's just.. from the way Miss. Woppit went on, I half expected you to be male..."

The rose-haired girl snorted in laughter. "Hell no. The only part of my body even close to possessing male tissue is my vagina."

Hilary stared. _Oh... my... God. Am I dreaming?_

Then Mariah laughed again in her face, throwing a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. "Oh, your face. Seriously, I'm kidding girl! I'm still innocent and intend to keep it that way until I'm eighteen."

A sigh of relief escaped her mouth, and must have been pretty damn noticeable as Mariah giggled again. "Thank you! For a second there I thought you were as crazy as Miss Woppit. She seriously freaks me out."

The girl giggled and began to pull Hilary along. "Oh, don't mind her. She's a horny old bat working on a pornographic novel. Hence why it's only written on paper. She gets no action herself." Hilary looked slightly bewildered but nodded and smiled to show she was listening. "No one's as crazy as good old perverted Miss. Woppit." She bit her bottom lip, suddenly re-thinking. "Ah, well. Maybe not as crazy as Tala. That's one dude you should stay away from."

"Why?"

Mariah shook her head. "Meh, think Miss. Woppit times ten, although not in her perky light. Actually the complete opposite." Hilary gulped. "But don't worry," She shoved her arm around her, giving her a friendly squeeze. "Enough about them. I'll show you the best room in school- the lunch room. Fancy a coffee?"

The new girl nodded and smiled sheepishly, before looking back at the wild crowds of what seemed like jungle animals. Well, the school certainly didn't lack in character.

---

After the coffee that actually turned out to be hot chocolate, Mariah started to show Hilary around, giving her a quick tour of the grounds but was more interested in warning her who to stay away from and who was okay to befriend- even though Mariah wasn't popular, and Hilary never had been, they were still forbidden by the laws of 'coolness' not to mingle with the real nerds.

And the conversation they caught explained why.

"My beast is bigger than yours."

"Oh, I highly doubt, my beast is at least 5 inches."

"Woa, no way!?"

Hilary had no idea what they were talking about, and quite frankly, she'd kill herself if she ever found out. Or, perhaps she did know, and referring to a 'beast' as five inches totally defied the point. But denying it to herself seemed to work.

"Well, they're not creepy.." She looked at Mariah nervously.

"You haven't seen half of the creepiness yet. See, Tala, he-" But Hilary wasn't listening, and looking completely in another direction.

Mariah followed her line of gaze and it led back to a certain boy- and suddenly she felt a great feeling of dread. Anyone but him, please. "Uhm, Hilary?"

The brunette was in a major trace, her eyes fixed on this one guy- never had she seen such a fine male in flesh before. Dark, mysterious hair, a feeling of purity and down-to-earthiness not even coming close to the vibes she was suddenly receiving. "Who _is_ he?"

The rose-haired girl rolled her eyes. "Don't even think about it- that's pretty boy Tyson Granger, the prince charming for all homosexuals. I'm clueless as to why, he has such a mommy's boy face, and is _so _pretty and angelic looking, but really... oh. Well I guess I can see why gay guys like him."

"What, gay guys?" Hilary raised her forehead into a crease.

"Yeah, you see him, over there?" Mariah pointed to a tall, quite handsome looking teen stood by the bikes, with swarms of people around him, but he was ogling Tyson like he was a piece of meat made in heaven. Tyson appeared oblivious as he swayed past the group of most popular boys in school. "Well, he's after Tyson."

"Oh. The ginger?" Hilary looked down-hearted, still gazing at the wonder boy.

"Uh, yes, the ginger. I wouldn't say that to his face."

"Wait... don't tell me Tyson's gay..." Hilary looked even more broken-hearted.

"Let's just say I wouldn't put it past him. But, you know, being gay here is like being a God- people just seem to love you. The ginger is called Brooklyn- he's the most popular boy in school, he's had his share of guys in bed. He's such a whore," Mariah spat, almost scowling. "And, some guys pretend to be gay for the popularity, and wanting to be liked by Brooklyn. It's a real biggy here at Shrew High. Your reputation is everything."

"Tyson Granger..." Hilary swooned, eyes glittering manically.

"No, girl," Mariah waft her hand in front of Hilary's face. "You can't fall for him. He's not as nice as he may seem- he's a complete bitch. He's even worse than some of the girls. Don't go there."

"B-but.. his eyes.. are like... fire..." Hilary continued to stare at him like he was indeed a God.

"Yes, he's a fiery bitch. And not in a good way, either. You can't date him anyway, his Grandpa has forbidden him to date anyone since the STI rate at this school hit sky high. It's getting better though," Mariah explained, but saw her words obviously meant nothing- Hilary was still in a daze.

Mariah rolled her eyes, again. "Listen, he's gay and has no penis, okay? Forget about him, there's plenty of other cute guys."

She was still transfixed. "So...?"

"You'd go out with a guy with no penis?"

Hilary turned slowly to look at Mariah. She giggled. "Yeah, okay. I see your point." _Actually, I would. Sex isn't everything._

Mariah chuckled back. "Okay then, panic over. Now let's go find some fresh boys, who _have _something worth snuggling..." Hilary laughed, and before she knew it, Mariah had clasped her shoulder and was guiding her away from the candy.

The lust-struck girl bit down hard on her lip, dying to take another look around. While Mariah was babbling, she took a swift chance to take a peak- and there it went again. Her heart cluttered in her chest so rapidly she was sure it was going to pounce out. There he was, sat down, laughing and smiling away with his friend.

He really was the candy she wanted a taste of.

* * *

Yeah, I know, no Tala or Kai in this chapter xD Got to set the mood though, you know?

Haha, I got the the surname Woppit from one of my brother's school teachers, it amused me so I thought I'd use it. :P

I hope you liked the first chapter, please review and tell me what you think, it would mean a lot :)


	2. Planning the Fall

Hello! Many thanks to first chapters readers and reviewers, Beywriter, Karush, Rapunzelle, Petalwhisker X Fireheart and StZen .... Much appreciated!!

Thought I'd tell you where the name of the fic came from. Well, **10 Things I Hate About You** is based off a Shakespeare play called **The Taming of the Shrew**. So... can you guess where it came from? XD Oh the irony.

Now I shall present you fine people with another chapter xD A longer, and better one, I hope. Enjoyenjoy!

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Planning the Fall

It was the dawn of a new day but not quite the dawn of a new character. As usual, Tala slumped down in his chair, his aqua eyes holding what seemed like a permanent glare and his mannerism of anti-socialism once again made quite an effect on the class.

"Hey, red head, cheer up, you great old bag!"

Tala turned around in his seat and threw a look at Brooklyn, who was sat nibbling on a pencil, giggling with his followers.

"Red head? Have you looked in the mirror lately, with your ginger bush of hair?" Tala snapped back, rolling his eyes. Quiet gasps and giggles blared within the room.

Brooklyn looked seriously pissed, holding a look that read, 'my hair is _not_ ginger you blind imbecile, it is orange!'. Once again Tala displayed his amazing skill of mind reading, a reason most people were afraid of him.

He smirked. "And having orange hair is like having purple leg hair. You asshole."

The class were now laughing hysterically, even Brooklyn's sheep. Well, that's what some called them. But he referred to them as his friends, or his gang.

"Tala has a small penis," Brooklyn's red face slowly faded when laughter spurred from his sudden comment.

"And how would you know?" Tala almost laughed, spinning fully around in his chair now.

Brooklyn held a sneaky smirk. "Yes.. How _would_ I know?" The whole class fell silent. Tala stared manically at Brooklyn, the smirk on his face just dying to be wiped off with a punch or two. But before anything could start, the open doorway was suddenly filled with a presence that held a booming voice, meaning one thing.

"Alright class, pipe down!" Mr. Morgan stormed into the classroom like his voice alone wasn't enough to make his presence known. "Tala _again_?" He raised one eyebrow.

Tala huffed in amusement. "Actually, Brooklyn over there was just telling us how he was pretending that pencil is _yours_, Mr. Morgan."

The teacher looked bemused and glanced over at Brooklyn, who had embarrassedly stopped chewing on the pencil. The whole class burst out laughing.

"Sir! Sir!" Brooklyn cried. "Ignore the idiot, he's a fucking attention seeker with no friends, and he wonders why!? You're not going to let him get away with that!?" In anger, he stabbed the pencil into the table. "He's a complete shithead!"

"LANGUAGE, Brooklyn!" Mr. Morgan shouted, still eyeing up the pencil that was being tortured by Brooklyn's hand. "And I'll be most thankful if you stop doing that to my pencil."

Tala snorted in laughter.

Brooklyn's eyes widened. "What!?" He looked nervous as the teacher travelled towards him with an expression that suggested killing intent.

Suddenly, he snatched the pencil from Brooklyn's claws and pointed it at him threateningly. "This _is _mine. Ask before borrowing."

The teens were all giggling under their breaths, especially Tala who was hiding behind a book. But then suddenly that was grabbed a hold of and slammed onto the desk. Mr. Morgan stared down at him. "You- Go see Miss. Woppit."

Tala looked offended. "What, why!?"

"Because you suck, that's why. Out, now!" The teacher pointed towards the door, his face bursting with frustration. Tala gritted his teeth and groaned, purposely scraped his chair along the floor as he got up then stormed towards the door, only for him to collide with someone's hard frame.

"Nuh.." He pulled back and looked up, to see the preposterous Kai Hiwatari was once again late for class. "Watch where you're fucking going!"

Kai raised an eyebrow, his messy, sweaty blue hair swaying all over the place from the impact. "Who spat on your grave?"

"More like who dug him up," Brooklyn sniggered.

"BROOKLYN!" Mr. Morgan yelled. "Shut it ginger!"

---

"Mariah..." Hilary sighed, her eyes shining lovingly at only one person.

Mariah's golden eyes glowed sarcastically, slamming her school book shut. "Listen, if this is about that Princess Tyson....."

"It is..." Hilary smiled, a faint pink blush appearing over her cheeks as she watched Tyson and his yellow-eyed friend walk across the yard together. Personally, Mariah couldn't see what all the fuss was about. Tyson definitely wasn't the type most girls went for. "There has to be a way I can talk to him...."

"You have it bad," Mariah shook her head, but smiled.

"I have it worse than bad. Please...." Hilary actually reached out and took Mariah's hand in hers. "Help me talk to him, please. What can I do?"

Mariah sighed. "Fine, fine, but you're heading for a fall. I'll only warn you one more time. Stay_ away_."

Hilary smiled and nodded. "Okay, so, how!?"

Obviously, this just wasn't sinking in. Mariah finally gave in. "Well... I heard Tyson was looking for a Geography tutor, for some reason. I don't know who he thinks he is sometimes. He's hardly Brooklyn, is he?"

Hilary stared. "A Geography teacher!? That's only my area of expertise! What a coincidence!"

"Oh... well my Italy-Japan-France-Germany loving freak, good luck. But you may have some competition..." Mariah pointed over to where Brooklyn was stood, eyeing up Tyson like a cat and fish.

---

Brooklyn wolf whistled at Tyson, and without fail, Tyson spun around as though he knew it was directed at him.

"Hey gorgeous," The sly teenager threw Tyson a wink, his soft, shiny hair bristling gently in the wind. Tyson smiled back, his teeth flashing quite distinctively. Brooklyn began to walk towards him, his hips shaking against the air. "And where are you going?"

Tyson turned around and made a hand gesture at his friend, telling him to go on ahead. He did, and Tyson turned back to Brooklyn with a slightly nervous face. "Home, where else?" As if no one else was around, he carelessly cupped Tyson's shoulder with one hand and rested his other on his thigh, shaking slightly at the simple sensation.

Tyson raised an eyebrow but didn't protest.

"Home? Okay, let's go."

The navy-haired teen chuckled. "My home, not yours."

"Your home? Sounds good to me!" Brooklyn ran his tongue along his bottom lip, the gesture making Tyson look even more bewildered, but Brooklyn guessed it was because he was so overwhelmed at being chatted up by a popular guy.

"No, I mean.. I'm going home. You know I'm not allowed to go near guys," Tyson sighed. "I wish it was different."

"All right, fine. I'll give you a ride home. And on the way I'll buy you something," Brooklyn suggested. Tyson almost squealed in delight and followed Brooklyn towards his red, flashy convertible.

Hilary stood gaping. "I'm doomed."

Also stood looking on, was a certain lone wolf.

---

Alone, Tyson sat hunched into the chair, his eyes fixed on the TV in front of him. Everything was so peaceful. The buzzing picture of the TV, plus the warm sun glowing in through the window and the generally nice atmosphere was almost too good to be true.

That's until a voice he so badly despised spoilt everything.

"Who's the best! T to the A to the L to the A!"

"SHUT UP!" Tyson yelled, clenching his fists. His asshole of a step brother had once again returned from wherever his sad life led him and burst into the living room, just as annoying as he was when he was first welcomed into the family.

Sometimes, Tyson wondered just why his Grandpa had adopted Tala. The two of them weren't even remotely alike, which made it even worse. When they were six, Tyson's mother and father passed, which left him to live with his Grandpa. Afraid that Tyson would grow up without an older brother to look up to, he adopted, but also because he had developed a soft spot for the young orphan with flaming hair.

Tala felt like a brother, all right. And what do brothers do? Argue.

"Why should I? I'm happy for once, leave me alone," Tala said.

"You're happy? Did someone die?" Tyson spat, turning the TV volume up.

Tala grinned. "Not quite."

"Well? Why are you happy then?" Tyson asked, not sure why he was so curious.

Tala was bursting with happiness and threw himself on the couch. "I only got into the BEST boarding school in the country!"

"What!?" Tala and Tyson turned to the kitchen as Grandpa emerged from it, fork in one hand. Combined with his red face and wide eyes, he looked lethal. "B-But.. Tala... I thought you said you'd changed your mind?"

The red head sighed inwardly and shoved a newspaper in front of him, not liking where the conversation was going. "I unchanged it."

Grandpa rubbed his moustache and groaned, his eyebrows slanting hurtfully. "But, I won't ever see you if you go there. At this age you don't know what you want, so why not wait until your current school year ends?"

"Shh, reading here!" Tala snapped. The old man grunted something then stormed over to Tala, grabbed the newspaper and spun it around.

"Then at least read it the right way up," He looked down sternly at Tala who just grinned.

"Look, it's my choice. Go annoy Tyson and ask him who picked him up from school."

As though the whole thing about the new school was immediately forgettable, Grandpa turned his head quickly at Tyson. "Who picked you up from school?"

Tyson growled and jumped up from the chair. "Tala! You fucking arse!"

"Uh, that's exactly what bothers me. You're banned from anything that involves the F word," Grandpa almost shouted, but seemed more concerned than angry. "You know that."

Tyson threw his arms in the air. "Look, listen! He just gave me a ride home.... how does that involve..."

"That's where it'll lead to," Tala spoke casually, smiling at Tyson. The navy-haired teen sometimes _hated_ Tala with a passion.

"I'm not stupid!" Tyson protested. "Why can't I go out with him!? He goes to all the cool parties. And it's the prom soon!"

"Oh, you can...." Grandpa smirked. "When Tala dates. And no prom or parties either.. only if Tala does."

Purple veins were spluttering through Tyson's forehead, and like a big kid, jumped and slammed his feet against the wooden floor. "But that's SO unfair. Tala is the most anti-social person ever! He'll NEVER date, and he never goes to parties!"

Grandpa looked smug with himself. "Then neither will you."

"AH!" Tyson started to sweat furiously. He swung around and pointed at Tala. "You Martian!"

Tala scoffed. "Whore!"

"Castrated jerk!"

"How dare you! I haven't been neutered!"

"You act like you have!"

Grandpa rubbed his chin. "Hmmm... Idea. It may be the answer to all our problems. Then you can date."

"I'd rather chew on a dead cat. No," Tyson raised his eyebrows.

"Then you know the drill!" Grandpa giggled as he busied himself back into the kitchen. Tyson yelled something censor-worthy and slammed his backside onto the couch, having what most would call a teenage tantrum.

Tala sniggered and disappeared upstairs. For Tyson, life was just so unfair.

---

Hilary spun around on her clipping heels, her stringy spaghetti stop loosening from her body and dissolving through the thick air. Her usual messy, brunette hair had been neatened, tied back with a little ribbon and sprayed in smelly hair stuff, that literally stuck to her head. Her bottom half was purely flesh, her skirt shorter than a belt.

"So, how do I look?"

Mariah stared. "Like a tart."

Hilary looked back in the mirror and bobbed her hair up, pouting. "Good."

"That's not a good thing, Hil... you smell like a prostitute," Mariah said, whilst fixing her own hair in the mirror.

The brunette twirled around again, posed, then frowned. She sighed. "You're right, I've probably over-done it a bit. But thanks for dropping me a line to help him with Geography. I can't thank you enough."

"Yeah yeah. Now let's go, you'll be late," Mariah said, and together, they left the girl's toilets.

Mariah huddled in between a few book shelves and pretended to be reading whilst Hilary looked around the tables, where she was supposedly meeting Tyson. And there he was, sat on his own, this time his long, messy hair tied back neatly with a baseball cap on. Her heart skipped a couple of beats before she greeted.

"Hi, I'm Hilary, your new Geography tutor!" The girl smiled nervously, holding out her sweaty palm.

Tyson smiled. "Yo. Nice to meet ya." He shook it.

Hilary widened her eyes. _He's so cool.... _She gulped and sat down. "Right, so..." She set the huge pile of books on the table. Tyson looked pretty much scared. "Let's get started..."

An hour must have passed, and Tyson was positively almost passed out. He winced, his lips shaking slightly as the voice of the girl droned through his ears. He'd never been so bored in his life. _Just exactly who is this silly nerd? When I asked for a Geography tutor, I only wanted to know where Canada was._

Finally, as if God had heard his cries, she stopped talking. "Understand?"

Tyson nodded absently, eyes closing slowly.

"Cool!" Hilary perked, closing the book. "So uhm... I was wondering something, if you don't mind."

Tyson sighed. "Fire away."

"Why is popularity so big here?" Hilary asked.

This caught Tyson's attention and his head spurred up. "Ah, so you're the new girl. Thought I'd never seen you around before...." He said. "Well, I suppose... That's just like asking why France is next to China. It just is."

"Uhm.. I don't think France is..." She didn't have the heart to tell him. His smile was too perfect. She didn't want it to rub off and fade away, she just wanted to stare at it, forever. He seemed slightly shy, and was nothing like how Mariah had described him. Maybe it was for the best, and for the bravery of all student females, to ask him first.

"I, uhm... have lots more books about the world at my house. Do you wanna come around one day after school?" She cursed herself for blushing, but for the next few seconds, she wanted to hang herself. He simply stared at her. _Oh God oh God oh God!_

Tyson wasn't sure what to think. It took him at least a minute to work out she was actually asking him out, but she must have been the first _girl_ to ever show interest in him. It surprised him to no end, and even if he wanted to go out with her, he couldn't. "Oh, sorry, but... I can't. I'm not allowed to date or anything like that, unless my step brother Tala does. My Grandpa is so overprotective..."

Hilary bit her lip. "Well... there must be a solution. How about we find a girlfriend for Tala?"

The boy laughed. "You are joking. No girls will even go near him. He's not bad looking, but he's a complete psycho, as you may have noticed. Besides, he's sworn never to date again, for some reason I don't know."

"But surely _someone_ will?"

Tyson thought, tapping his fingers on the table. "Maybe a guy. But I don't think he's gay... I don't know."

Hilary clicked her fingers. "Then we'll get a guy."

He couldn't help but stare at her sceptically. Not because she suggested a male to date Tala, but the fact that he hadn't even agreed to go out with her. Had she misinterpreted it? _Or... _The bulb in Tyson's head suddenly lit ferociously, the light buzzing wild with ideas. This could turn out to be very advantageous indeed. "YES! YES!..." Hilary looked startled at his outburst. "Sorry... but... yes! That's it! If you get a tough guy to take Tala out at least once, then... I can date..."

Hilary refrained from squealing. "Wow! It's genius!"

"And..." Tyson lowered his voice. "You'll do that for me?"

The girl swallowed hard. "I will! I will!"

Tyson flashed her his teeth. "Great... though I assure you it won't be easy."

Hilary fluttered her lashes and giggled. "Hehe, oh, I'm sure it won't be _that_ hard."

It was those last words that were about to backfire, pretty extremely, seeing as she didn't know the full extent of just how much of an undateable raving lunatic Tala was.

* * *

I know, still not a lot of Kai, but at least it was longer, and from next chapter he'll be appearing all the time XD So I hope you liked it! Please review :)


	3. Kai's the Man

=D KAI IS HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! -fireworks- ahem, yeah...

Thank you readers and reviewers, I hope this chapter brings you so much pleasure! (Not that kind)

* * *

Kai's the Man

It was biology class and unfortunately for the girls, it was the semester of cutting open rats and drawing a diagram of their insides. It was so unpleasant yet the perfect opportunity.

Mariah and Hilary were working together, close to a bunch of guys who were joyfully ripping apart their rats. Hilary gagged and wanted to throw, but she kept it all inside, somehow. "So, tell me again, why is this the perfect opportunity?" She asked, her ruby eyes drawing away from the disgusting organs inside the open animal.

The pink-haired girl sighed. "Where else will we find a suitable candidate who will be willing to take out Tala? Guys in this class are all hardcore, not a lot of guys like to rip open rats you know, never mind girls." Her yellow eyes were stuck on a group of guys. "You see them? They're all gay, I think. Apart from a couple, but that doesn't matter. I'll ask."

Hilary felt her heart almost jump out of her throat as Mariah approached them, brushing back her long, pony-tailed hair and fluttering her eyelashes.

"Hey," She said, smiling sweetly. They all stared at her suspiciously. None of them had ever even spoken to her before. "Uhm, well, I was wondering, would any of you handsome gentlemen be interested in dating Tala?"

There was an awkward silence. They simply stared at her as though she'd just told them something graphic about herself.

She swallowed and waited.

One blinked. "Are you _crazy_?"

"Uhmmm...."

Another gaped. "Ahahahaha. Good one, girl."

And another screamed and ran away.

Mariah returned to Hilary, defeated. "No good. One actually screamed-"

Hilary sighed. "I know, I saw...."

But then, something quite peculiar caught the brunette's eye. Just across from where they were working, was a guy who looked... quite sturdy, something definitely unusual about him. He had light blue hair, two-toned, and diamond dark red eyes that looked almost as cold and heartless as Tala's did.

He picked up his knife and stabbed it straight into the rat, gut flying across the table. Never had she seen anyone do that before, so viciously anyway. It was like he'd just fell out of the sky and was almost _too_ perfect for Tala.

"Holy maniac, I think I've got it. Him!" Hilary pointed and Mariah turned around- her eyes widened.

"No no no!" She cried, grabbed Hilary's shoulder and pulled her close. "Holy maniac indeed! He's almost as bad as Tala! If we so much look at him we'll melt. He missed a year of school last year, rumour has it he was in prison for setting someone on fire. With his eyes!"

Hilary narrowed her eyes. "With his eyes? Right. Well, at least he'll be horny then."

Mariah still didn't sound too sure. "I don't think he's gay."

Unfortunately for her, Hilary disagreed. "We have to try. He's the man!" Mariah let out a groan and accidentally stabbed her fist into the rat.

She stared for a second then, then... "AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

---

After some digging they found out Kai's next lesson. Mariah knew this was a bad idea, but for the sake of her new friend, all she could do was go along with it. Confidently, Hilary strode up to Kai who was in the middle of drilling something.

She waved her hand across his face and he stopped drilling abruptly, turned and stared at her in bewilderment. "Hey, I'm Hilary, I was wondering-"

Suddenly the drill was turned on again and the spinning nail flashed in her face. She let out a squeal and flew back as Kai continued to wave it around in her direction. The girl held up her hands in surrender. "ALL RIGHT, I'M SORRY TO HAVE BOTHERED YOU!" And she sped off out of the class.

Mariah was waiting for her in the lunch room. Panting and sweaty, she noticed it obviously hadn't went well when she saw Hilary limping towards her. The golden-eyed girl stood up in concern. "Are you okay!?"

Hilary groaned and sat down opposite her. "You're right. Maniac doesn't quite cut it. And I'm fine."

Mariah raised an eyebrow. "Then why are you limping?"

"To show how much the two second experience with him affected me. BUT-" She raised her hand. "He's definitely our man."

"You're playing with fire. But you're right, he's definitely the one."

"Oh, so what changed your mind?"

Mariah grinned. "I think I can make this benefit myself, too." She said, flipping back her pink hair. "I know how we get Kai to date Tala. Offer him money- he's always seen with money, so obviously, that suggests he's in on all sorts of deals." Before Hilary could ask the obvious, Mariah stopped her with her hand. "Ah, but how do we get the money you ask? It's simple. We need a banker, someone who has money but also someone who's thicker than Tala's eyebrows."

The loved-up girl looked sceptical. "Who?"

She didn't notice Mariah eyeing up a certain ginger-haired queen. "Stay here, I'll be back." She left the table and as though things weren't already complicated enough- Hilary almost died when her friend sat down at Brooklyn's table.

The pink-haired girl acted casual and grinned up at Brooklyn and his cronies, who all stared at her like she was mad. She was receiving that look a lot lately. "Problem?" Brooklyn grunted, eyeing her up and down. He had absolutely no interest in girls whatsoever, although he was kind of used to the attention. It did prove to be a bit annoying at times. "I'm gay."

Mariah had to suppress rolling her eyes, she didn't want a kick-in from Brooklyn. And being a girl had no effect on him whatsoever. _Jeez, I sit down and immediately he thinks I'm after him sexually. This guy is so far up his own arse, but wow... close up he does have amazing eyes and is rather sexy... All right cut it out you bitch!_

After lifting a fist to her mouth and coughing into it, she spoke business-like. "I have a proposition you may be interested in."

"I'm not interested."

"No, please, just hear me out," She almost begged, and Brooklyn's face seemed to soften. But as though ordering his sheep, he clicked his fingers, and on that note, under the table, she felt one of them rest their hand on her leg. Her yellow eyes widened but she carried on anyway, knowing it was just Brooklyn's way of scaring the population below him. Thankfully, his friends were all gay anyway, she hoped. "Okay, so, you want Tyson right?"

By the flash in his eyes, she knew she had caught his attention. She squirmed a little when the hand started to ride further up her leg. "Ahem," She crossed her legs over. "But you can't date him, because Tala doesn't date, right? I think I've found someone who will actually date Tala and won't be afraid." She pointed over to Kai who was sat on his own.

Brooklyn glanced over, then looked back at her with a raised eyebrow.

"All you have to do is bribe him to take out Tala, then you can date Tyson." She nodded and forced a smile, becoming increasingly annoyed with the hand that was now tickling and tugging on her pants. It was actually rather becoming, but when she was trying to speak it didn't help.

Brooklyn stared at her. "Hmm. And why would _you_.... help me?

She flipped back her hair. "Well- Oooh!" He looked at her sceptically when her eyes widened, the hand growing closer to her comfort. She blushed. "Uhm, well, you see, I thought you could... say hi to me every now and then?"

Brooklyn snorted. "Oh, I see. You're a popular-wannabe?"

Mariah nodded, her hands fidgeting and body squirming.

"Hmm, Okay. I'll think about it."

"O-okay cool..." She stuttered, and remained sat down. The wandering hand was growing on her quite rapidly.

The orange-haired teen glared at her through his torqious eyes. "Well, what are you waiting for? Go."

She stared at him with a flushed face. "O-Oh, y-yes, sure..." She stood up and to her dismay, the hand fell from her thigh. She was flushing manically, and before she trot off, she turned to the guy who had been feeling her up. "You- I'll see you later.."

He raised an eyebrow at her and she wandered off. Brooklyn suddenly burst out laughing. "Silly girl. You really turned her on! And she thinks you're straight."

His friend turned slightly pink. "Y-yeah...."

Mariah joined Hilary back at their lunch table, still slightly flushed, but her head was still in one piece. She grinned at her friend. "Right, I did it."

Hilary didn't look too impressed. "Why are you getting him involved!?" She squealed. "He obviously likes Tyson, and he has more to offer Tyson than I do, so who do you think he'll choose!?"

"Calm down! Listen. Brooklyn likes Tyson, yeah, but he's only bait. _We_ are the ones in control here, once Brooklyn starts paying Kai, he'll take out Tala, then you get in there quick. It's the only way, and I know we'll probably get our heads kicked in when Brooklyn finds out, but Tyson is worth it, right?"

Hilary smiled and nodded. "Yeah, you're right. Thanks."

Mariah looked quite smug with herself. "No problem." Her mind suddenly turned back into fantasy-mode and thoughts of that hand leaping into her pants made her blush dramatically. Hilary looked at her weirdly, then started to sip her hot chocolate.

---

Kai Hiwatari sat in complete solace on a bench, his arms folded and eyes closed, the warm sun glowing against his relaxed body. Most people knew once he was set in this position, disturbing him would be like setting off a nuclear bomb. Not words-wise, but it was the eyes that people were most curious about, as they showed hardly any emotion at all.

The sounds of the male football team shouting and screaming could be heard as far as China, and despite being pretty close to them, the noise just left Kai, too indulged in his own little world. His worries seemed so far away. If only.

"Hey..." A voice he was not familiar with called somewhere from around him. Inhaling heavily, he popped open one eye- to his surprise, it was a ginger guy. He'd seen him around school, but the guy had never even spoke a word to him since he came out of 'prison.' In fact, they hadn't _ever_ spoke.

Kai remained silent and closed his eyes again. It seemed someone hadn't been paying attention to the whole nuclear bomb stuff.

Brooklyn scratched the back of his head, other hand rested on his hip. "How's it going?"

The blue-haired teen pulled a face but his eyes stayed shut. "Are you a new friend I've made while completely pissed up, because I've never seen you before in my life." It wasn't a question, more of a, 'get lost' statement. It seemed, this guy didn't pick up on it.

"Heh, uh, no. I'm here to run something by you," Brooklyn said, still not catching Kai's attention. "You see that guy over there?" Kai peaked open one eye and looked to where he was pointing. It was a red-haired guy, who was thrashing the opposing football team.. with a hockey stick.

"What about him?"

"That's Tala Valkov, step brother of Tyson Granger. See, Tyson is only allowed to date when Tala does, some retarded idea of his Grandpa, but Tala is a complete social-reject who most people fear, and I want to take Tyson out, but-"

Kai cut in. "Boo hoo. Looks like you'll need a new victim, then?"

Brooklyn nipped his bottom lip. This guy was seriously painful to talk to. "I'll pay you to take out Tala."

That made Kai snort in laughter and finally snapped his eyes open. He stared at Brooklyn through his serious red orbs. "You're paying me to take out some dude? Not on my life. I'm not gay. And what makes you think Tyson is gay, anyway?"

Brooklyn used a single finger to flick back his hair from his eyes. "Trust me, the power of my cock cannot be compelled."

Kai raised an eyebrow, when suddenly a loud scream came from the football pitch. They both spun around to see an injured boy on the floor, with a very guilty-looking Tala stood by watching and smirking. A vicious tackle or something, but definitely not something so brutal you'd see in a friendly game of football. This guy seemed like a complete psycho.

"So basically, I've got to tame the wolf?" Kai asked, still staring at the red head.

Brooklyn smiled and nodded. "Yes."

"Fuck off. As if I'm going to date a guy, for money. In case you haven't already noticed, I live in a mansion. Money means nothing to me. Offer me a way out of this hell hole of a school and I may consider it," Brooklyn sucked in his lips, knowing clearly that little wish of Kai's couldn't happen. He needed a new plan. But before he could speak, Kai cut him off. "AND, do you really think I'd flaunt a false sexuality?"

"W-Well, erm... want any favours doing? Any people beaten up?"

Kai laughed mockingly, but then, something hit him- maybe there was something he could do for him, after all. "Actually... yes. You can do something else. Instead of paying me the money... I want you to pay a guy called Max Tate"

Brooklyn nodded instead of asking the obvious, if he was so rich, why didn't he just pay Max himself? "All right... but you'll have to point him out. Twenty, yes?"

Kai grunted. "A hundred."

He almost choked on his own tongue. "A hundred!? Jeez, what did you do to this guy, kill his Mom!?"

"No, I impregnated his Mom," Brooklyn looked shocked. Kai rolled his eyes. "Joking. It's none of your business, so keep out of it. Just pay Max and tell him it's from me, about 'you know what'. Okay?" Brooklyn thought about it for a second, staring into Kai's dangerous looking eyes. Mariah was right, he was definitely the guy to take Tala out. He sighed.

"Fine... one hundred..." He fished around in his pocket and slipped out a note from his billions of others. "I hope you're as smooth as you think you are. Now, what does Max look like?"

Kai sat back in his chair and closed his eyes again. "Blonde, stupid, blonde. Ask around. Sleep now. Bye." As Kai drifted off into his own world again, Brooklyn stood for a second, staring him out, until sighing and wandering off. He could only hope Kai was one of those trustful types under that passionless appearance.

---

The sun was hiding behind the clouds and resting a less settling scene upon the football pitch by the time the so-called game of football had finished. Kai glanced over at another bench where Tala was sat downing water, appearing understandably warn out.

Looking around quickly, Kai disposed of his chewing gum and began to wander over to Tala. He didn't really have a plan- he'd just come right out with it and ask him out. He wasn't going to go all his stride just for some guy. He stood in front of him as Tala drank, and the red head looked up, scowling.

"What's up?" Kai asked.

Tala stared at him for a second then parted his lips from the drink. He puffed as he spoke. "Tired."

Kai placed a hand on his hip and stood carelessly. Anyone would think he was trying to impress Tala with his hung attitude, but that was simply Kai written all over. "I've just been watching you out there- you really know how to move. And hurt people." Kai grinned. "I like your style."

The red head half-smiled but rolled his eyes. "Really? Can't say I like yours- you're a bit too forward for my liking." And with that, Tala got up and started to walk away, but Kai followed.

"So... me and you? Friday night?" Kai nudged Tala who in return laughed.

"Someone's horny..."

Kai blinked. "No, no. I'm not. I just wanted to take you out."

"Because I caught your fancy? And what makes you different from all the other guys who just want to fuck?" Tala asked, in a bid to escape the weirdo.

Surprisingly, Kai wasn't stuck on the question and gave him an answer that _almost_ impressed him. "I don't fuck. Just charm into love-making."

The wolf chuckled but wasn't at all genuine. "Yeah, right, and my name's Brooklyn. Funny, it's not. Do you even know my name Romeo?"

Kai was still hopping along side him, struggling to keep up with the fast-pacing teen. "Of course. Question is, would you like to know mine?"

As if he hadn't made it clear already he wasn't particularly interested, he started to pick up his pace even more, leaving Kai to start into a light jog. "I already know." Tala sneered. "Doesn't mean I _want_ to know it, though." And as though being blown off couldn't be made any more obvious, Tala disappeared somewhere within the sports building. Kai stopped and stared after him. He had a feeling he was trying to achieve the impossible here.

* * *

Woohoo Kai!!!!!! Honestly who would blow Kai off -_- He's hardly hideous. Roar.

Please review XD Kai shaped cookies up for grabs.


	4. Selling Tala

Gah. If there's one thing I hate it's coming up with chapter titles. Thought I'd share that little dislike of mine xD.

Another fast update!! =D Wow it's like this story is writing itself!! Many many thanks to everyone who read or reviewed last chapter, you all own Brooklyn, haha. I hope you enjoy ;)

* * *

Selling Tala

Tala smiled down at his new heavy metal CD, possibly his favourite genre of music, as well as rock and indie. He was a total sucker for anything like that.

He walked out of the store and headed towards his parked car.

"Nice car," Tala stopped and stared in almost disbelief, then rolled his eyes. Non other than Kai Hiwatari was stood leaning against his car, staring at him tastelessly.

"What do you want?" The red head sighed and almost as though Kai wasn't there, walked straight past him and pulled out his car keys. Kai shimmied across the paintwork and slipped in front of Tala, blocking the door from any access. Tala glared at him, one that asked what the hell Kai thought he was doing.

"I saw you go in. Just wanted to wait for you," Kai said, frowning.

Tala scoffed. "For someone who's trying to charm me, you certainly aren't doing a very good job of it. You're like a robot, you're not even smiling. You sure do have an odd way of asking for sex."

Kai stopped and pondered for a second, keeping eye contact with Tala's aqua orbs. _He's right. I need to smile, otherwise he'll never think I'm not being serious. Which I'm not. But something else is bothering me..._ Tala continued to stare into the depths of Kai's eyes, obviously the certain 'fire' rumour not familiar with him.

"Why... aren't you afraid of me?" Kai asked, folding his arms curiously.

"Why _would_ I be afraid of you?" Tala rolled his eyes and still kept the same, cold atmosphere between them, no sign of bluff or denial. It was quite interesting to Kai, no one had ever said they _weren't_ afraid of him. Besides his cat, which couldn't exactly speak.

Awkward, something pulled Kai away from Tala's eye contact. He'd never _ever_, pulled away from a staring contest before, he was literally the champion of all champions when it came to that. But there was something eerier, something not quite right about Tala, either. _Jeez, this guy is like... not a human robot. But a robot, robot. I've got to be more.. assertive._

"Heh. I never said anything about sex. You're the one who brought it up. I'd say you've been thinking about me naked, eh?" Kai winked and grinned, to which Tala raised an eyebrow at.

Tala was the definition of sarcasm and couldn't have made it any more obvious he wasn't buying the whole thing. "But of course, your bum is so peachy. Oh, but your dick's tiny." Kai stared at him in surprise. "It's not that great." And Tala pushed Kai gently out of the way of his car.

The slate-haired teen stood back, mouth open, as Tala got into his car and started his engine. He truly could not believe the frigid presence he was receiving from Tala. Usually he had no problem with this sort of stuff. Probably because he'd never done the chasing.

_Beep!_

A red convertible pulled up from behind Tala's car, blocking him from escaping onto the road. It was a certain ginger-haired bastard who Tala specifically hated with a passion greater than his passion for dark music. Well, maybe not that far, but he was definitely in his top five hates.

Brooklyn strolled past Tala's car, smirking at Kai.

"Uh! What is it with assholes today!" Tala shouted and beeped his horn at Brooklyn. "Move your junk you ginger nut!"

Brooklyn snorted in annoyance but continued towards the store.

"Oh, so that's how he wants to play it? Fine.." Tala mumbled to himself and stomped his foot down. The car slid back and thudded into the side of Brooklyn's car, pieces of glass shooting out across the road. The noise caught Brooklyn's ears from behind and he spun around, his eyes widening like a plate when he saw his beloved car in pieces.

"You stupid bastard!" Brooklyn cried, running towards his precious car wide-armed.

Kai stood on by watching, sniggering into his hand.

"Sorry, my foot slipped," Tala grinned and watched in amusement as Brooklyn cradled his poor car.

---

A huge chunk of sugared tuna fell out of the blonde's sandwich. He looked around quickly then picked it up, and shoved it back inside, whilst the on-lookers sat with him at the table scrunched up their faces in disgust, to put it lightly. A girl with glasses on, and ginger hair in particular, let out a little gag.

"That's disgusting, Max. Why do you have sugar on tuna?" She asked, slightly put off her own food now.

The blonde shrugged. "Better taste. And it leaves me on a high."

Michael, a sporty guy just like Emily, apart from the guy part, set down his drink and looked directly at Max with a stern and serious face. "That's what drugs are for."

"No no, I don't do drugs, they're baaad," Max said, taking a bite out of his sugary sandwich.

Michael winced. "But you'll still have unprotected bumsex?"

The blonde looked up from his sandwich and pulled a surprised face. "Pff. That was a one off, and you know it."

Emily rolled her eyes. "Oh, sure, a one off, a big bumsex lover like yourself won't make that mistake again." Max nodded and smiled, obviously missing the sarcasm.

"Speaking of big bumsex lovers, Brooklyn gave me a hundred big ones yesterday, and I have no idea why," Max said, looking as serious as can be.

Michael and Emily stared at him, their faces quite unreadable for once.

The blonde widened his big, blue eyes and touched his face sensitively. "What? Is there something on my face?"

Emily stared at him. "Brooklyn gave you.... a hundred orgasms?"

Max stared at her. "What? No no! Silly! That's not what I meant by big ones! I meant money!" Emily and Michael looked at each other then sighed in relief, laughing to themselves over their mistake. But they wouldn't actually put it past Max, he was quite the whore these days.

"Oh!" Emily perked. Then she raised her eyebrow. "Wait- Brooklyn gave you money? Why?"

Before Max could speak, Michael cut in, waving his arms around. "Don't question it, idiot! You're getting free money for God's sake, just take it and be done with it."

"Wouldn't you be suspicious if someone started to throw money in your face for no reason?" Max asked, and Michael brought a hand to his chin for a second, thinking.

"Well... I suppose. I'd think it was because I'm loved by all," Michael grinned, flipping back his floppy hair.

Emily rolled her eyes. "The only thing you're loved by is mirrors."

"Do you blame them? I'm so handsome, they should be grateful for having something so sexy staring into them," Michael sighed, sliding a hand down his own face. Emily hated his big-headedness with love and couldn't restrain her fist from flying against his head. "Hey!"

Sat on a nearby table, with a book stood up, Kai was listening in, and did not like at all what he heard. He sighed, got up, and wandered out of the canteen and waited by the stairs for Max, if he ever managed to pull away from that sugary tuna sandwich.

---

When the bell called for next lesson, what seemed like a stream of teenagers piled out of the canteen, and among the lot somewhere, was Max. Kai looked through quickly, even his fiery eyes finding it hard to spot that famous blonde hair. Unfortunately, there was a lot of people with blonde hair, so he found himself nipping and picking out random people who in return thumped him, which he didn't blame them for.

Finally he grabbed the right blonde and pulled him aside.

"What the hell are you doing!?" Max cried, being dragged off into a quieter area. "Hey! - UH!" Max was slammed against a locker roughly, his frail back being crushed with the force of Kai's one hand against his shoulder. "What's the big idea you spook?"

"Spook? I wanna know your game. What do you mean, 'Brooklyn's giving you money, and you have no idea why?"' Kai demanded to know, staring into Max's eyes threateningly in an attempt to intimidate.

Max struggled against the hand and bit down hard on his bottom lip, the strength of Kai's hand quite painful. "What's it to you any-" His frown suddenly fell lower, but then turned around into a grin. "Oh. I see. That money's from you?"

"No shit. Now you can stop blackmailing me."

"Very clever, getting someone else to pay me instead of yourself," Max was generally quite impressed.

"As if I was going to pay your little snot-nosed face with _my_ money. Brooklyn should have told you it was from me, but obviously not. So I'm telling you now. This ends now, do you hear, you little elf?" Kai sneered, pressing down on Max's shoulder even harder.

"Ow! Jeez, relax. I'd stop insulting me if I were you, or I may just ask for more money. And you wouldn't want everyone to know.." Max winked. "Would you?"

Kai's dark eyes finally fell from contact and he stared at the ground, Max obviously having hit a soft spot somewhere.

Max grinned. "I thought not. But here's the deal. I have no idea how you've managed to get Brooklyn to pay me, but whatever you're doing to keep _him_ aroused, keep doing it. I want enough money so I can buy a car, one better than Brooklyn's. Savvy?"

Kai's jaw fell open, feeling himself become even more angrier, and it led him to grind his claws deeper into Max's skin, his teeth flashing manically. Max's eyes widened and he cowered against himself, looking seriously freaked out. "Fine!" And with that, Kai dropped Max and the boy fell to the ground with a thud.

"Owch!" Max groaned, rubbing his backside. "They're all right about you, you're crazy!" He yelled, as Kai stomped off, still fuming.

---

Kai slammed his school locker shut in annoyance, only for his anger to reach another high- Brooklyn's face was on the receiving end.

He sighed. "What the fuck do you want?"

Brooklyn raised an eyebrow. "What do you think, what other possible reason could I have to speak to you?"

The blue-haired teen grunted something under his breath. He had a point, but he was certainly not in the mood for smart arses. "Unless you've come to offer me more money, get lost." Kai snarled.

Brooklyn chuckled slightly. "Someone's having a bad period." By the look Kai pulled him, he guessed he should shut up if he didn't want a smack. "..Ahem. More money? Are you kidding? I've come to ask why I haven't seen results yet. Tala is still walking around single. I can't take Tyson out until you bag a date. Oh, and when you do, keep that idiot under control, away from my car."

"It's going to take a lot more energy than I thought," Kai said, beginning to walk along. Brooklyn followed by his side. "So, I've upped my price, which means I want a hundred... per date."

"What!?" Brooklyn gasped.

"You heard me. To win this guy over it really has to be something big. So... take it or leave it. Remember... no money, no Tyson," Kai said without so much as smiling, strutting down the corridor with Brooklyn tied to his side like a dog. Brooklyn never usually begged like this, so it probably looked extremely silly.

"Oh, all right fine!" He groaned and grabbed a hold of Kai's arm to stop him. Kai turned and looked at him, finally with a triumphant smile on his face.

"Good. And besides, even if I only take out Tala once, that means you can only take out Tyson once. Most guys don't like doing it on first dates," Kai sniggered. "Oh, and give the instalments to Max, _this_ time, tell him it's from me, don't forget!"

Brooklyn's face was quite hilarious. He looked like he'd just been told he was ginger. "Ah! For your information straight-boy, it's more than sex I'm after... no, wait that came out wrong, I mean I'm after sex..." Brooklyn halted. "THAT CAME OUT WRONG AGAIN! I'M NOT CRAVING SEX, OKAY!?"

Kai snorted in laughter and continued to walk away. "Yeah yeah, I believe you, millions wouldn't. Just get the money to Max, okay?" And he was gone, leaving Brooklyn stood surrounded by a few giggling girls and boys. He blushed, shouted something obscene then ran off.

---

After pacing back and fourth for a couple of minutes, Mariah finally stopped and turned to look at Hilary who was sat looking quite down in the dumps.

"This obviously isn't working. Kai is getting nowhere asking Tala out. Soon Brooklyn might get impatient. I think we need to intervene," Hilary looked positively scared now by Mariah's risky idea.

"Why do I suddenly feel scared?" The brunette frowned.

Mariah grabbed her arm. "Believe me, Brooklyn's probably scarier. Let's go," Without letting the brunette use her own initiative, she dragged Hilary along with her, ignoring her little yelps to slow down. Marching like soldiers across the school, they managed to find the woodwork class Kai would now be in.

Kai looked busy, cutting away at something with a knife. Hilary gulped. That just made it all the more worse, if it could get any worse. Mariah nudged Hilary to make her go on ahead.

Hilary turned to her and whispered lowly and frantically. "Why me?! I went last time and nearly met my unforeseeable death by a drill."

The pink-haired girl sighed. "Because it's _you_ who wants Tyson." Point taken. The nervous girl stepped forward, with Mariah close behind and stood beside Kai for a little while before briefly waving her hand in front of his face with one stroke.

"H-hi, erm, I know about the deal thing with Brooklyn and what you're trying to do with Tala."

Mariah imagined herself slapping her forehead. What better way to put it than be outright blatant and risk the chance of another drill frenzy. Surprisingly, this time, Kai completely stopped what he was doing and having obviously caught his undivided attention, he looked down at the two girls with an eyebrow raised.

"What's it to you?"

Hilary and Mariah looked at each other. "Well... we wanna help," Explained Mariah.

"Why would you want to do that?" Kai asked, getting back to whatever he was doing. He kept an ear open while the two girls spoke to him.

Mariah flipped her hair. "Well, you see, Hilary likes Tyson, and can't go out with him until Tala dates. Yeah?"

Kai coughed and carried on with his work, not exactly sure what to think. Something was definitely going on, but he didn't ask the obvious question just yet. "Isn't Tyson that little one with puppy fat?"

"NO! He's not fat!" Hilary suddenly yelled, nearly pouncing, but Mariah stopped her with her arm.

Mariah took over again. "Heh, well, he's Tala's brother anyway. See, it wasn't Brooklyn who set all this up. It was me and Hilary, it's Hilary who wants the guy, Brooklyn is just a decoy."

Kai looked slightly impressed. "You're screwing Brooklyn over? Rather brave for a couple of girls." The girl threw her hands on her hips and looked smug.

Hilary rolled her eyes. "So, we're gonna help, by doing a little digging, we'll find out Tala's likes and dislikes, and pass the info on to you." She dipped her hand into her pocket and brought out a bright yellow piece of paper. "Kenny Dizzara's having a party this Friday, so it's a perfect opportunity for you to take Tala."

Kai raised an eyebrow, his head still buried in work. "Kenny? Isn't that the nerdy one? He's holding a bash?"

"Well... not exactly. Myself and Hilary are making some adjustments," The golden-eyed girl explained, twiddling with the end of her ponytail.

The slate-haired teen nodded. "Ah. I see," He smirked. "Well, I'll think about it. I'm really busy right now." And with that, he walked off to attend to some more work. Mariah and Hilary glanced at each other triumphantly. It was unusual to ever hear a 'I'll think about it' from Kai, the guy everyone thought had a screw loose. They had a feeling their little plan may actually work.

With a little help from technology and editing, the original 'sci-fi party' that was being held at Kenny's, suddenly turned into a 'rave with free beer', and there was only one thing left to do.

Mariah and Hilary stood at the top of the balcony, looking down the hundreds of steps. "Here we go!" Mariah grinned, and their fingers disconnected from the millions of sheets of paper. To the very ground floor, the paper cascaded down like yellow rain and millions of hands reached out to grab a sheet as they fell.

The last sheet hit the bottom, right in front of someone's feet. He picked it up and pulled it to his face, scanning it quickly then pulled it away. Brooklyn knew he was definitely there.

* * *

Fini!!! I don't know Kenny's surname, so I just made it what I thought he'd change it to if he had to =P. Phew this chapter stressed me out for some reason xD Oh wellzz. Please review... Tala cookies this time. :)


	5. I'll See You At Nine

Woo =D Thank you everyone who read/reviewed last chapter! Once again I must say how much I hate coming up with titles so I'm sorry for the crappiness XD Maybe it would have been easier naming each one by chapter number.

Right, I should have made this clear before, but every teen in this story is 18, besides Tyson, Hilary, Mariah, Kenny and Ray, who are 16. :)

Enjoy!

* * *

I'll See You At Nine

Walking with hips shaking, appearing completely lost in his own world, Brooklyn eyed up Tyson's movements with pleasure. He grinned- not before racing after him, patting him on the shoulder to halt him and spun him around.

Tyson looked surprised but when he saw who it was, relaxed and smirked back. "Oh, hey."

Brooklyn's eyes narrowed thoughtfully, eyeing Tyson up and down for a second. He couldn't believe how unbelievably sexy he looked. His long hair was tied back into a cute ponytail, a mischievous cap on his head and his clothes were pretty revealing- shorts, a cute, little vest that fit rather snugly again his scrawny chest.

"Guess what.." Brooklyn began, still smiling as he spoke. "My model career is finally hitting off. I've got an appointment with my manager. Before you know it, I could be hitting the magazines."

Tyson looked impressed, but not at all surprised. "Oh! You mean, like, Girlpower?"

The ginger raised an eyebrow. "No... that's for little teenage girls. I mean a magazine for _big _teenage girls and boys."

Tyson opened his mouth to speak but decided against replying and closed it.

Brooklyn coughed into his hand. "So, you coming to Kenny's party this Friday? I am.. but..." He slithered his hand down Tyson's arm. "I'm only going if you go..."

The navy-haired teen had to force a smile without hiding his disappointment too much. It hadn't escaped him that he could only go if Tala did- which currently, was looking doubtful, seeing as Hilary hadn't been very successful with their little plan. He'd have to have a word with her, but he didn't want to let Brooklyn down, either. So he perked up, nodded shyly and grinned. "Okay, sure. I'll be there."

Brooklyn flashed him his teeth, looking very pleased. "Good." The two-year age gap between the two of them didn't seem to bother Brooklyn, and he once again openly trickled his fingers down Tyson's arm. The school bell suddenly sounded, telling them their time was up. Brooklyn sighed but let Tyson go, still smiling.

---

The sun glowed in the clear blue sky, sending Hilary and Tyson into relaxation, as they sat swinging on the outdoor chair swing, that was covered in fake flowers and leaves. It was so romantic, in Hilary's eyes, but she noticed Tyson seemed a little off, like his mind was on something else.

"Uhm, so, have you heard about Kenny's party?" Asked Hilary, her eyes twinkling and heart pumping when Tyson threw her a glance with his dark blue eyes.

Tyson sighed, a sort of fake disappointment trapped within his throat, but Hilary didn't notice. "Yeah, and I want to go so badly. But I _can't. _Tala isn't going, so I can't." In case he hadn't made it any more emphasized enough, he gave Hilary a thoughtful look.

"O-Oh, well, me and Mariah are working on that, as promised. The guy we chose is gonna ask Tala to go with him, but unfortunately Tala doesn't seem taken by him. We promised to do some research and find out what Tala likes, to help Kai along..." Hilary bit her lip. "He's not, uh... straight, is he? I always thought he was gay-"

Tyson nodded. "Tala is gay, definitely. He has the biggest collection of guy mags you could ever imagine."

Hilary looked surprised. "O-oh.. Anything else?"

Tyson scoffed. "Why are you asking me? I don't know how Tala's freaked-up mind works."

The brunette bowed her head a little, his face suddenly too hard to look at- it was cold and unwelcoming. "W-Well... we need to dig further. Go into his room, I don't know."

And so, into the strange sanctuary that was Tala's bedroom, Tyson was rummaging through his draw while Hilary stared around at the walls, taking a note of all the posters he had stuck up- most of them were of rock stars, male, and werewolves. It was quite ironic really, Tala was known as the 'lone wolf' of the school, while it seemed he was quite fond of the deadly mammals.

"Oh yeah," Tyson began, pulling out a load of documents. "I don't think Tala likes smoking, he's always going on about how he'd like to stick fag ends up people's asses who smoke." Tyson grinned. "The irony is, he'd love to stick _his_ fag end up people's asses... oh, aha..." Tyson pulled out a poster of some gorgeous looking guy with long, curly hair. "What a pretty guy."

"Okay so we have no smoking, pretty guys... what else?" Hilary asked. Tyson held up the two pieces of card he had in his hands.

"Tickets for... Club Borg tomorrow night," Tyson pouted.

"Isn't that where Vanilla Sky are playing?" Hilary asked.

"Yeah..." Tyson was still looking through the draw. "Hey.... what's this..." He pulled out a strange looking pair of underwear. His eyes widened as he held them up. "This is.. a dolly bead thong. Ha."

The girl looked a little shocked but realized there must be some sort of reasonable non-sexual explanation. "Maybe he just.. likes... dolly beads?"

Tyson snorted. "Oh come on Hilary, how naive can you be? Isn't it obvious, he plans to use this one day. Heh heh heh..." Tyson grinned to himself and set them back down, as though quite happy with his discovery. Hilary looked on, rubbing her left foot up her right leg awkwardly.

---

"Are you _sure _Kai is in here?" Mariah asked nervously, her yellow eyes placed on a strange-looking man who was throwing her a rather teasing look. Cigarette smoke clouded the small bar, the stink of dry alcohol and most concerning, urine remained gusted in the corrupt air, with no way for it to escape due to there being no windows in the downstairs, claustrophobic room of drunks and weird-looking men wearing biker jackets playing snooker and missing the dart boards quite dramatically. It definitely wasn't the scene for two lone girls, but that's where Kai said he would be, so here they were.

Hilary sighed and was pulling Mariah along, ignoring the whispers of the dirty old men that came their way and instead concentrated on finding Kai- thankfully, she spotted him by one of the snooker tables. It was hard to tell who was smoking since the place smelt of smoke, but she was not too daft to realize he was dragging away at one of the sticks.

She gasped and almost stormed up to him.

Kai turned around and spotted the two coming over. "Ah. Got anything for me?"

Hilary and Mariah stopped beside him as he cradled the snooker stick against his body.

"Yes!" Hilary sounded. "Tala hates guys that smoke, I had no idea you did!" She cried, staring at the fag in his hand.

Kai raised his eyebrow. "The nicotine gum wasn't working." Mariah and Hilary looked at him oddly. He sighed. "I did try to stop once. But... I can't." He half-smiled. "It's just too good." The two girls looked at each other.

"Right, well... can't you pretend to stop, just for now, while you date Tala or whatever?" Mariah suggested, doing her usual hair-flipping.

The slate-haired teen grunted, obviously not happy about it, but agreed anyway. "Fine."

"Oh, another thing. Tyson said Tala goes for pretty guys," Hilary said.

Kai blinked and stared at the two girls, his eyebrows dropping and face suddenly plastering with offence. Kai being quite the unpredictable guy, remained quiet and leant away from the snooker table, looking over the two girls who suddenly felt extremely uneasy. "...I am pretty."

Mariah opened her mouth and breathed out in relief before speaking. "O-Oh, yeah I know, she was just saying, you know... you are gorgeous! Really sexy, in a pretty guy kinda way, you know, if you weren't gay I'd-" Kai silenced her sucking-up with his hand.

"Woa, woa. Hold it right there. I'm not gay," Kai said, and Mariah nodded, understanding.

Hilary grinned. "And Tala's bedroom is pretty much man-mania! He is most definitely gay!"

Kai snorted in annoyance. "I'm _not_ gay!"

"I never said you were!" She held up her hands in defence, not wanting to upset him. Despite his nice-ness now, she still guessed he was just as bad as Tala underneath. Insulting Kai would be like... insulting a volcano. That's what it'd lead to anyway, so she'd heard.

"Right.." Hilary pulled out a piece of paper from her skirt pocket and coughed before reading. "Likes. Take aways, wolves, Vanilla Sky, aaand paintball. Dislikes, smoking..." She nodded towards Kai's cig. "...Brooklyn for some reason, artificial sweeteners and uh... Miss. Woppit's sexual education classes."

Kai raised an eyebrow. "Sounds complicated. How exactly do you know... he hates sex education classes?"

Hilary gulped. "E-Erm... well, on his timetable, he's drawn a picture of Miss. Woppit with a, uh.. penis on her head."

Kai pouted. "Fair enough."

"Oh! And also, he has tickets for Club Borg tomorrow at about six-ish," Hilary smiled. "Some of his favourite bands are playing there."

Kai's face dropped. "What? No, No. That's not my scene. Can't stand that fucking club. The music there makes me want to throw."

"Well, if you ever feel like being sick, just swallow it!" Hilary grinned.

"Actually, I meant throw punches."

Her eyes widened. "Oh. Look, can't you put up with it for _one_ night? It won't hurt, will it?" Kai sighed, but by the look on his face, it seemed he had no choice and they immediately knew that was a yes. "Oh, and also, he likes dolly bead thongs." She nodded and grinned.

Kai raised both eyebrows at her whilst taking a drag of his cig, the two girls beaming up at him. He couldn't help but wonder what the hell possessed him in the first place to go along with any of this. Then he remembered. Max. In the end, it would be worth it, despite how tiresome it was.

---

Booming, stringy music sounded through out the thin corridor, as Kai made his way through the crowds of girls stood around chatting away, having to squeeze past most of them due to the lack of space, but he guessed they shouldn't be stood there anyway. He was cringing already, the music driving him nuts, and his dislike must have shown on his face because several girls threw him sceptical looks.

As per usual, he simply ignored them and continued towards the source of the music. He very much doubted Tala was the type to stand on the sidelines, he'd probably be where all the action was.

Funnily, as he stepped out onto the main dance floor, the first thing he noticed was that most of the swinging, crazy dancers were male. It seemed the band that was currently playing, with their over-loud drumming and shaky guitars, were popular among males. He glanced at a sign on the wall that read;

_CLUB BORG - The only smoke-free bar in town_

_Currently Playing,_

_Vanilla Sky_

Kai bit his bottom lip. _So, this is the sort of crap Tala is in to. This'll be painful. _He sighed and began to push his way through the crowd_. After this is over, I'm so getting pissed. _On his way through, he got slapped in the face with someone's swaying hair, which was wet and greasy. He made a disgusted expression with his face, just as someone else decided to stand on his foot. _Right, after this, it's Russian vodka straight._

Finally close to the front, he spotted a sudden wave of red hair flash through his eyes. He stood on his tip-toes and leant further in the crowd, again spotting familiar red hair. It was definitely Tala, but he was 'dancing' (Kai called it head banging) with another guy. Kai squinted his eyes to try and make out who it was.

Long, light purple hair.... _Ah._ Kai smirked._ It's Bryan. Nothing to worry about. _Tala and Bryan had been best friends since Kindergarten, and Bryan usually said he wouldn't touch Tala with a barge pole, since he was straight. He was Tala's _only_ friend.

Kai blinked, which must have took longer than he'd anticipated. When he opened his eyes again, Tala appeared much greater within his sight.

Tala's red hair flailed all over the place as he danced away with Bryan, arms in the air and pulling off some moves Kai didn't know Tala was capable of. For some reason, the slate-haired teen couldn't help but smile and watch Tala for a moment.

He danced so wildly, like a ravage wolf, his head shaking like he was devouring his prey. Kai's smile turned into a frown suddenly. Maybe, perhaps, there was a lot more to Tala than most people thought. He certainly knew how to have fun.... and he was a good mover.

Somehow he managed to tear his eyes away from Tala and sighed, walking towards the bar. He'd wait until Tala got thirsty and came for a drink, then make his move.

It wasn't such a long wait after all. Kai had ordered a coke, upon discovering the 'bar' didn't actually sell alcohol, and just as he started sipping, he spotted Tala wandering over.

Having not seen Kai yet, Tala stopped by the bar and puffed out, "Two waters, please!"

He turned his head, a smile on his face... then suddenly it dropped, upon seeing Kai sat on a stool, acting as though he hadn't yet noticed Tala. "Oh for-" Before going over he handed the barman money and took the two bottled waters from him. "What the hell?"

Kai glanced over at Tala, who was stood leant against the bar with an eyebrow raised. Kai raised his glass as a gesture to show he was in the middle of something. "Do you mind? Drinking, here."

Tala scoffed, now stood beside him. "Do _I_ mind? You're the one following me!" He shouted, though not in anger, but so his voice was heard over the music.

"Well, actually, I just wanted to relax in here, since it's a smoke-free club."

Tala looked confused. "You don't smoke?" Kai wasn't sure, but he had confidence he saw a secondly gleam of impressment in Tala's eyes. "Now there's a surprise."

The slate-haired teen suppressed wincing when suddenly a loud banging of drums was heard. "And, you know, this band's pretty good too. Vanilla Sky have been growing on me for quite a while now. Closer listen needed, I think." With that, Kai got up from his stool and began to mingle through the crowd, with Tala closely following behind.

"Hey, wait!" Tala yelled and grabbed Kai by the shoulder to stop him. "You... you like Vanilla Sky? I never thought they were your type of band. I always thought you were a classical-kinda guy." They were both still shouting above the music.

Now, Kai just _had _to raise a real eyebrow at that one. He stared at Tala, almost wanting to laugh. "Classical? You really are nuts." He couldn't believe the next thing he was going to say. But if this didn't show how 'serious' he was about dating Tala, then he didn't know what would.

He smirked, wide and seductive. "I was watching you dancing earlier- YOU LOOKED SO SEXY." Suddenly, the music faded away and his once quiet voice above the music turned into a loud revelation way beyond the silence, not realizing the song was about to end. His eyes widened and people around them all stared and started to giggle.

Tala looked shocked, but after the giggling was over, he suddenly snorted in laughter. He grinned at Kai, who even though looked terribly embarrassed, still remained focused and threw him a smirk back. The two of them were stood in the middle of the dance floor, just as another song started and people around them began to dance again.

"What are you doing later on?" Kai asked, daring to shout again.

The red head looked away for a second then returned his gaze. "I'm busy."

"Oh, busy, I see," Kai grinned, his face buried in dazzling red, green and yellow flashing lights. "Because someone like yourself will have hundreds of parties to go to. Come on- come to Kenny's."

Tala, for a moment, looked ponderous. Then to Kai's surprise, announced, "I'll be busy trying to figure out a way to get off your leash."

Involuntary, Kai just had to flash his teeth into a cheesy grin at that one. He had never known Tala was so witty, and difficult. He was probably the biggest challenge he'd ever faced in his life, since, he never needed to run after anyone. They all came to him. "I'll pick you up at nine."

Tala rolled his eyes and sighed. "I've told you, I lead a busy life. So don't expect anything.." He said, before making his way back to Bryan again. Kai was left stood on his own, but wearing a very triumphant grin.

---

The steps creaked slightly as Tyson crept down, all dressed up and ready to go out. He no longer wore his cap and in an attempt to tidy himself up, worse a shirt and probably over-used his deodorant. Following him down the stairs was his best friend, Ray Kon.

They reached the bottom step quietly and quickly headed towards the door. He should have known his escape wouldn't be so easy.

"Shouldn't have used so much deodorant, Tyson. I can smell it from here," Grandpa's voice drawled on. Well, it was a drawl to Tyson's ears, anyway. The young teen sighed as his Grandpa emerged from the kitchen.

"O-Oh, hey Grandpa..." Tyson forced a smile, quickly buttoning up his open shirt. Ray stood beside him, his long, black hair flowing smoothly behind him and his clothes no better than Tyson's- it was obvious the two of them were off to a party, so there was no point lying.

"Where are you two going?" The old man asked, a wise eyebrow raised.

"To Kenny's..." The teen explained.

Ray cut in. "Oh! Kenny is a pretty nerdy guy, you see. I don't doubt this so-called 'party' will be nothing more than Star Wars watching and peanut-butter sandwich eating!" He nodded and grinned, blatantly lying through his teeth. Tyson nodded in agreement, the same cheesy smile plastered on his lips.

On cue, Tala wandered down stairs and headed for the TV. "Hm. A party is a party, which involves dancing, kissing, drugs, and no pants." Tyson stared in bewilderment. Before he could argue, Grandpa spoke fast. "You can go- If... Tala goes." He held a sly grin.

Tyson threw his hands in the air and stormed over to Tala who was slumped on the sofa. "Please, Tala, can't you be normal for _one_ night and just come to this party!?"

Tala didn't even spare him a glance, his eyes fixed on the blank TV screen. Obviously, he was mocking him. "Uhm...no? My favourite show is on."

Tyson gritted his teeth, glaring at the black screen. "You ignorant- AH! Why not!? Just because you don't like parties, and for some reason your life has suddenly spiralled into a black hole, doesn't mean I don't want to have fun." Tala sighed when Tyson joined him on the sofa and surprisingly, grabbed his hand.

"Hey-"

"_Please, please _Tala!" His younger brother generally looked like he was desperate, perhaps too desperate. "Just for tonight, will you do this one thing for your step brother, please? If you only had to ever do one thing for me, this would be it. Please..." Tyson's eyes sparkled with something Tala had never seen before. He was begging, and he never usually resorted to that to get his own way. Usually, he yelled. But... he supposed... one party wouldn't hurt... would it?

Without even thinking, Tala rose from the sofa, walked over to the coat rack and grabbed his coat. "All right fine."

Tyson and Ray gaped, as well as their Grandpa. Suddenly the two young teens let out a roar of happiness and began jumping up and down. "Oh my God, I love you Tala!"

Tala snorted. "I don't want to be re-paid with your love. Just be sensible, okay?"

Grandpa sighed. "He's right!" He counted off the 'don'ts' with his fingers. "No kissing, no drugs, no alcohol, no panty swapping, no leaving soft drink unattended, and especially no sex. You know what'd happen if you-"

The amount of times Tyson had heard this was so countless that he was able to finish off his Grandpa's sentence. "-I'll contract AIDS and die."

The old man leant back, looking impressed. "Hm. Good."

The red head sighed and turned around so he was facing the front door. "Let's get this over with, then." He opened it- and stopped and contrasted his ocean eyes on the person who stood before him. It was someone he knew with light blue hair and had a rather bad habit of following him around. The slight smile that tugged at his lips wasn't hard to catch. "What are you doing here?"

Kai stared back, his dark red eyes glittering knowingly. "It was nine, right?" He briefly glanced at the clock that was hung on the wall in Tala's house, confirming it was nine. He nodded back to Tala. Actually, it was two minutes before nine, but it didn't really matter.

* * *

Yes. Dolly bead thongs XD Dolly beads as in the candy. They are actually real. How kinky is that? Bahaha. Vanilla Sky is a real band too! They're pretty decent =D I was listening to their cover of Rihanna's Umbrella as I wrote this. It's actually awesome!! =D Ooooh. I think it's safe to say it may be getting a little more interesting now. Comments ahoy! Please review =)


	6. Suddenly Everything Sucks

Raghh I broke my 2-3 day updates xD Sorry this took so long... I wanted to have it up sooner but I've been _very_ busy and sorry if some of your reviews/PMs weren't replied too! I hope you forgive xD As you may know it's Kenny's party now.. this is split into two chapters (maybe three o.o) because it's waaay too long and eventful for one. This chapter is more focused on Brooklyn/Tyson/Hilary, while the next will be more Tala/Kai. So, here is part 1! Enjoy! :)

* * *

Suddenly Everything Sucks

"Another peanut butter sandwich?" A short boy with rounded glasses and brown, strawy hair smiled and handed a plate to his friend. His friend wriggled his fingers and snorted out of his nose before laughing.

"Hehe! Don't mind if I do!" He grinned, eyes only briefly tearing away from the TV screen which had spaceships flying around everywhere on it.

Over the hills but not so far away, something was coming. By the sounds of the cluttering feet and shrieky voices, it wasn't something friendly, something that was storming it's way over to the humble abode of Kenny's, ready to attack.

Kenny rose his eyes open and peaked behind his curtain, his heavy breath blowing against the window in horror, until it was fully steamed up from his condensation. He pulled away and stared helplessly at his friends, when suddenly, his eyes flickered, like there was a new gleam of hope.

"Men..." Kenny stood in front of the TV, his arms raised dramatically. "This is it. Our greatest enemy have found out about our whereabouts.. now... we must _fight_!"

Cue silence. The nerds all stared at him. "..How?" One piped up.

Kenny bit his bottom lip and glanced around. "With-" He ran over to a long pole that was stood in the corner, and had a funny beam coming out of the top of it. "...this! The electric light shocker!" It was otherwise known as a lamp.

He stood hunched against the door, ready to protect his palace against the invasion. "Right.. ready..."

Suddenly the door burst open and hundreds, thousands of savage beasts poured into the house. Kenny jumped in front of them all with his lamp- electric light shocker in full defence. "Halt, fiiiiiENDDDSSSAAHHHHH!" In vain, he tried to fight against them but there was just too many- he was knocked flying against the floor and the 'teenagers' all seemed to have left their mark already.

Some were carrying larger than life sound stereos and the resident DJ set them up, and before they knew it music was blasting the roof off.

"Yeeeaaahhh!"

It seemed like the whole of Shrew High had turned up, as well as loads from other schools too. It was packed, kids dancing _everywhere_ with beers in their hands and plenty of making out going on already.

Mariah and Hilary were amongst the crowd, stood huddled together. They both were done up to the nines, wearing possibly the shortest skirts and highest heels ever. Not that they got any more recognition for that, as even some of the guys were wandering around dressed like them. In skirts.

"Right, you go off and find your man," Mariah grinned, undressing a certain someone with her eyes. "I've got some business to take care of. And it may involve the bedroom." Hilary giggled and waved. Mariah waited until she had wandered off until straightening her top and now stared directly at one of Brooklyn's gang, the one who had felt her up that day during lunch.

She was certain he wasn't gay. And even if he was, she knew she had the power to turn him straight with her thighs. She coughed, walked smoothly over to him, and patted him on his large back. He spun around, and immediately she felt her heart throb. She loved his dark skin and manly frame- it made her feel so weak.

"Hi, uhm, remember me?" She smirked shyly, but with added seduction. "I never caught your name."

He looked very shocked. So shocked he looked uncomfortable, and quickly glanced around, as though making sure someone wasn't watching. Probably Brooklyn, she guessed. "Rick..." He spoke unsure.

The pink-haired girl smiled up at him. She noticed his tenseness as she continued to talk to him. "You know, I'm thinking about getting a new car. One with a spacey back seat..."

"Uh-huh..." He looked respondent for a moment but then shrugged, turned around and completely ignored her.

Mariah gasped. _How rude! How.. how dare he! Well... _She scowled and purposely elbowed him in the back, then stormed off.

---

Max and Michael stood eyeing up Tyson and Tala with cans in their hands, who had both arrived with Kai, surprisingly.

"Well, well well... look who's shown up," Michael smirked, referring to Tala.

However, that wasn't the one Max had his eye on. His blue eyes narrowed at the sight of Kai, a noticeable smirk on his lips. "Indeed. The terrible duo."

Michael laughed. "Like the ugly step sisters, then?"

"Except they're not ugly."

"Oh yeah? You want some of Tala?" Michael raised his eyebrow at Max.

Max was still grinning and staring in their direction."Have you SEEN that ass?"

Michael shrugged. "No, but I've seen yours."

The blonde was still transfixed. "Ah....... AHHHH? WHAT?" He frowned and stared at Michael in horror.

It seemed Max's constant gaze upon Kai had caught Kai's attention and he looked over, red eyes narrowing painfully. _God... what's he doing here?_ Kai bit his bottom lip, suddenly feeling quite anxious. Then suddenly he felt someone ram into the back of him. "Ow!" It was two people who were now in a huddle on the floor, having a fist fight.

The teenager rolled his eyes but it was then he noticed Tala had disappeared. His eyes darted around frantically, but all he saw was one huge crowd all gathered around shouting 'fight! fight!'

He sighed and wandered off to look for Tala. It was like prowling through a muddy, sticky swamp, dancing heads everywhere and finding space was an absolute nightmare. He decided to have a look upstairs, where it looked a little less rowdy, most likely where Tala would be.

"Aaahhh!" A girl with short, light pink hair suddenly fell into his arms. He jumped back in shock but she continued to clutch against his body. He knew her as Mathilda, usually a quiet one. "I want a kiss!" She slurred, spitting in his face.

Kai scrunched up his face and gently pushed her into a blonde guy behind her. "Kiss him instead."

The girl grinned drunkenly and jumped into his arms. "Okay!" She pulled the poor guy into a kiss and Kai gave them both an odd look before continuing his search.

He was looking in completely the wrong place, as downstairs, as Kenny ran around desperately trying to save the silverware and vases, Tala was stood glaring at Brooklyn, who was glaring back, and had been for a long, long time. Finally, the ginger walked towards him with a sly expression.

"What's up sad case?"

Tala snorted. "Get lost, small cock."

Brooklyn wriggled his eyebrows and looked down quite pleasingly at Tala. "I'm very proud of it actually. I'm like a machine, baby."

Tala rolled his eyes. "You're the sad case. The only thing you're good for is tea dipping." He grinned then, as Brooklyn's smile fell and his face turned sour.

"Leave my hair out of this," He snarled.

Tala shrugged. "Oh, okay. The only thing your cock is good for is tea dipping too, loser!" He placed a hand on his hip. "Stay away from Tyson, all right?"

Brooklyn shook his finger. "That's one babe I won't be staying away from. Your family is my tradition," He grinned, then pondering, bringing a finger to his lip. "Oh. I'll stay away from his Grandpa, though."

Before Tala could do some serious damage to his face, Tyson showed up. "Hey!" The younger teen grinned, and Brooklyn spun around, a very wide smile now on his face. His intentions didn't look innocent, and that's what Tala hated. Despite hating his step brother in a brotherly way, no one messed him about. No one. He knew Brooklyn was _not_ the right person for him.

"Hi, babe," Brooklyn smiled, and leant in to Tyson and threw his arms around his neck, squeezing him for a few seconds as Tala stood there sending daggers with his eyes. When he let him go, he wrapped an arm around him. "Shall we go somewhere else, Tyson?" He asked, purposely gazing into Tala's eyes, enjoying watching him burn up in anger.

Tyson smiled and nodded, but before the two of them could turn away, Tala grabbed a hold of Tyson's shoulder. "No, please. Don't-"

The navy-haired teen scowled and rolled his eyes. "You're still trying to ruin my night. Go away and enjoy yourself, like the rest of us." Tyson grinned. "Sad case." Tala's eyes widened, and watched as Brooklyn sneered and the two left together, hand in hand.

The red head stared after them in total disbelief. He didn't think his blood could boil as much as it was now- he'd just been turned down by his brother, who he'd just tried to _help_.

Through the crowd, out came a certain blue-haired young man, looking relieved and less frantic, and made his way over to the very stunned Tala.

"There you are! I've been looking everywhere," Kai sighed, placing a hand on Tala's shoulder, but only to be shrugged off. "What?"

A guy holding a tray of shots came up from behind. "Want one?"

Tala didn't respond but took one from the tray, immediately downing it. He spluttered slightly before regaining his composure, and finding that little shot didn't quite aid his anger.

"What are you doing?" Kai asked.

"What does it look like? I'm pissing it up," He replied, grabbing another shot. "I hate this song. I feel depressed." He mumbled before drinking his alcohol in one go again. The constant beat of the music was vibrating off the walls and windows, making them shake and giving Tala nothing more than a dreadful headache.

Kai tried to grab Tala's hand when he grabbed another glass. "Drink will not help a headache."

Tala shook his head lazily. "No, but it'll help your constant drawl in my ears." He managed to pull away and swallowed another one, the liquid trickling down his throat and infecting his insides quite rapidly. Everything bubbled up inside and soon his eyes appeared more dreary than usual. He waved. "See you around." Kai knew following him probably wasn't a good idea.

He stood and watched as Tala disappeared somewhere, left to gaze at the immature people around him dancing to infinity and doing monkey impressions.

---

The brunette had looked high and low, but there was still no sign of Tyson. She spotted Mariah looking rather fed up, fighting off some horny male with a tennis racket. Hilary glared and ran to help her. "Hey!" She screamed, grabbing a useless cushion and whacking the groper across the head. If he wasn't so drunk, the cushion would have had no effect at all.

Mariah threw her friend a thankful grin and nodded.

Hilary nodded back.

"I'm sick," Mariah groaned. "Why are all guys pigs- honestly..." She glared at Rick who seemed to be having the time of his life swinging a kid around by his collar, then threw him through the open door. Hilary followed her line of gaze.

"Mariah... you like him? He's a total maniac. Just look at him," She planted a hand on her friend's shoulder. "You can do better."

The rose-haired girl looked saddened still, bowing her head. "I know.. but I really liked him."

Hilary sighed. "Not all guys are worth it. Speaking of which, have you seen Tyson around?" It was Mariah's turn to play the support now and grabbed a hold of Hilary's shaking shoulders.

"Hil, calm down. All good things will come to you. There's no point in looking for it- Oh..." Mariah turned her gaze onto something behind her. "Crush alert!" She grinned, and Hilary spun around, her ruby eyes glistening bright in the lively room. "Good luck."

The brunette smiled and rushed over to Tyson, who was walking down the stairs with Ray following.

"Yeah, so, Brooklyn's just gone to get some beer and-"

"Hey Tyson!" Tyson and Ray skidded and halted in surprise when Hilary suddenly bounced in front of them both, her sharp and nicely-tied up appearance causing a slight flicker in Tyson's eyes. But he raised an eyebrow, appearing extremely reluctant to say a simple 'hello' back.

"Oh, hi, Hil.." He rubbed the back of his head with his free hand, the other occupied with a can, despite his Grandpa having forbidden him from drinking.

She found herself almost speechless for a second, gazing at Tyson's open shirt in awe. "Y-you look really nice... new deodorant by the way?"

The boy coughed, obviously feeling awkward and completely ignored her statement. He grabbed a hold of Ray and shoved him between the two, much to his demise. "Oh, this is Ray, by the way."

Hilary raised an eyebrow but smiled at Ray who didn't seem to return her sentiment. "Oh, yeah, I know, we have gym class together."

Ray looked severely unimpressed and forced Tyson out of the way so he could stand back in his original spot. "Unfortunately. I'm not into girls with pale legs." Ray commented dryly, but holding a definite smirk. Hilary just giggled along, yet feeling a somewhat disappointment within her.

Her gaze turned back to Tyson who could barely keep eye contact her, and it didn't take a genius to see that. The conversation was going no where and it was like suddenly everything had stopped, everything around her silencing even though there was a party going on, and the whole attention was on the two of them.

"Do you like my deodorant too?" A sneery, husky voice spoke, and all three of them turned towards the stairs- to see Brooklyn coming down with two cans in his hands. "Heh heh. Although it's not new. Far from it. It's called 'Brooklyn' and all guys love it. Don't you, Ty?"

Hilary gaped when he flung an arm around Tyson. He chuckled. "I love it."

Brooklyn grinned. "Come on, let's go...." And with that, the two of them were wandering off, and Hilary only received a quiet, 'bye' from Tyson. She stood in astonishment. She couldn't believe her eyes. With a silent wink from Brooklyn, they both left her, her heart being totally ripped from her chest and stamped on.

The feeling was immense. The world was clouded over her, lightening clashing across her path. Mariah watched her, grabbing a part of her pain through the thick, suddenly corrupt atmosphere.

Mariah was right. She had been built up to fall.

He'd well and truly had her. He'd made her feel like a fool.

She'd never felt so defeated in her whole life.

She'd never felt so devastated.

---

An hour must have past, and Brooklyn and Tyson were walking around having a very intellectual conversation about... modelling.

Brooklyn had his arm around Tyson coolly, holding a can in his other. "And so, if I get this job, it'll be the start of my career in New York. I suppose that's where _I_ wanna go, but..."

It was like a loud cry in Tyson's ears. Surprisingly, he couldn't help but think all this 'modelling' stuff was boring, despite it being Brooklyn, which made him even more confused. Since when was Brooklyn like this? He certainly lacked modesty in himself.

"Blah blah blah, blah blah blah."

That's what it sounded like.

"So uhm. Now that we know each other a little better, let's go upstairs, for a pee..." Brooklyn grinned, finally catching Tyson's attention. The navy-haired teen looked at him strangely, almost as if he had seen him in a different light. But he wasn't quite sure whether it was a good or bad one.

"Sure, okay..." Tyson agreed, and they head off upstairs, past the corridor of kids making out and slobbering all over each other. _Well, I wouldn't say we knew each other at all. We know _you_._ He cringed at the sight of some serious slobber dribbling down someone's chin. He'd never seen anything so disgusting before in his whole life. Suddenly he felt so off-put, but it was too late, as they entered the bedroom...

Tyson wandered in first and Brooklyn slammed the door shut behind him, drowning out the music almost completely. It was a nice change from the constant banging of tunes, but maybe it was almost _too_ quiet. For a moment, Brooklyn stood leant against the door, smirking knowingly at Tyson.

As though it had came from no where, none of this seemed like a good idea any more. They were in a bedroom. When Brooklyn had specifically requested to use the loo. "I thought you needed a wee?"

He didn't reply. Instead he began to walk forward, causing Tyson to back up and his backside landed softly on the double bed. He looked at Brooklyn sceptically when he sat down beside him, his warm breath trickling against his neck ever so slightly. It didn't feel as good as he thought it would. In fact, it was more eerie than anything else.

They gazed into each other's eyes for a moment, Brooklyn trying to catch the moment. It was surely working, so, slowly, he leant in.

There was a slight hesitation from Tyson as he moved his head to the side, but Brooklyn grabbed the side of his jaw to settle him down and placed his hot lips against it, beginning to suck and move in positions that Tyson felt awkward about. For a couple more seconds, Tyson simply let him, trying to relax into the situation.

He waited a little longer, his lips now steaming against Brooklyn's. He still didn't like it, and pushed away Brooklyn quite harshly. "No, no Brooklyn..."

Brooklyn looked annoyed, but pouted innocently. "What's wrong?" He was still leaning over Tyson.

"I...I can't.." Tyson said, shocking himself as well as Brooklyn.

The orange-haired teen sighed. "Look...." To Tyson's wonder, he raised his hands and hovered them over Tyson like a witch casting a spell and laughed jokingly. "The power of my cock compels you!"

"It does!?" Tyson's eyes widened, but then quickly remembered it wasn't really a spell.

Brooklyn's eyes glowed. "....You will fuck me tonight....."

Tyson shot back quickly, stood up in protest and threw his hands on his hips angrily. "What do you take me for?!"

"An idiot."

"Oh, so that's what you think of me?" He shouted now, rushing towards the door.

"Babe, I like you!" Brooklyn cried, and chased after Tyson. He managed to over take him and slammed his own back against the door, blocking his escape.

Tyson scowled at him. "Oh, don't give me that. You're not who I thought you were. Actually, I never did like you." Brooklyn gasped. "It was all an act, just because I wanted to be popular."

Brooklyn snorted. "Oh, Tyson," He slammed his hand on his shoulder, to which Tyson grimaced to. "You don't need to be funny with me. I know your true sexuality. I know who you are. At least at one point in this relationship, you were attracted to me."

For a second, it looked like he'd caught Tyson out, but to his continued astonishment, Tyson shoved Brooklyn out of the way of the door. "Yeah well...!" He didn't even finish his sentence and flung the door open angrily, slamming it after him.

---

Kai was still on the look out for Tala, having found him a couple more times but keeping up with him seemed too impossible. He was probably drunk by now, and Kai actually worried. Consuming alcohol was not a trait of Tala's, it was totally out of character and he knew if he didn't find him fast, it would lead to unwanted sickness in the morning.

He sighed, and just as he passed a window, Max ran past shouting 'STRIPFEST', completely naked. Kai guessed he wouldn't be going outside any time soon, then.

---

He felt so angry, so used, so confused. With his back hunched and pulling a sour face, Tyson rummaged through the crowds and finally found a spot to gather himself, rocking his head in his hand. A presence brought him to look up and to his bemusement, Hilary was stood there, watching him with bright red eyes. She looked like she'd been crying. Quite badly.

Tyson's mouth opened a little to say something, but all that came out was a pathetic gasp. He so badly wanted to apologise, tell her how sorry he was for being a complete bitch. There was something else he wanted to tell her, but even he was having trouble understanding what it meant.

If that was his only chance to rekindle his friendship with Hilary, then he'd blown it, as she stormed off suddenly. He didn't blame her. And it was all Brooklyn's fault.

Speaking of the bastard, he turned his head to see-

His own voice in his head cut him off. Brooklyn was on his feet swaying with a couple of guys, up close and personal, his slimy hands all over them. It was like a realization hit his mind, but he was far too enraged to acknowledge it yet.

Frustrated, he tore his way through the dancing crowd and grabbed a hold of Ray, who was dancing with some guys.

Ray looked bewildered but walked with Tyson anyway. "What's up with you!?"

"Suddenly everything sucks!"

* * *

Aaah that didn't come out as well as I'd hoped -_- It will be much better next chapter though 'cos there is some great development between Kai and Tala! Please review =)


	7. Break the Ice

TALA/KAI FANS YOU ARE IN FOR A TREAT XD

Ahem. That is all. Ah yes, thanks to readers and reviewers, I forgot to offer you all cookies last chapter. Sorry... XD Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

Break the Ice

Brooklyn's face was bright pink and he looked seriously peeved. Rick noticed his 'session' with Tyson had been over rather quickly and seeing his face suggested the worst.

"What's up with you? Where's Tyson?" Rick asked.

Brooklyn licked his lips. "Tyson is just hormonal. I may have rushed things. Couples argue all the time." A sinister smirk spread across his lips. "I will bed him, though."

Kai stormed past a group of drunks, people swaying in front of him and falling all over the place, the alcohol having obviously gone to their heads. The whole house was now hot and heated, and Tala was no where to be seen. This was his definition of a disaster.

To his shock, suddenly someone grabbed a hold of his jacket. He spun around, his face softening when he saw it was Mathilda and Miguel, still with their tongues entwined. He raised an eyebrow at Miguel who was still tugging on his clothes. "Thank you, so, so much man. I appreciate it you allowed me to kiss this fine specimen -hic!-"

Kai bit his bottom lip and patted Miguel on the back as a way of saying, 'you're welcome' and rushed off.

He spotted some red hair dancing around, although upon closer inspection the said person wasn't actually dancing, just tumbling around with a shot. Kai sighed in relief and jogged over. "Tala!" The red head didn't seem to notice him at first and before he could hit the floor, Kai used quick reflexes and grabbed his arm and pulled him up, accidentally slamming him against his body, the drink flying in the air. "No more drink!"

"Wha- nooo that was mine!" Tala then hit out and slapped Kai. Crimson eyes rose open, stunned, still holding onto Tala. "You can get me 'nother one! Right this now!"

Kai stared. He was wasted. Introducing him to more drink was a definite no no. "No. Look, Tala, you've had enough." Tala fought back and somehow managed to loosen Kai's grip, then stood up on by his own accord, amazingly. Suddenly a wave of kids crashed past and by the time the stampede of teenagers had vanished, Tala was gone, again. Panic alarms set off in Kai's head.

_For fucks sake. This is probably his first real drunken parade, and he needs looking after._ Kai sighed to himself. _And who's going to have to do that? I wasn't paid to do this.... _Immediately after thinking that, Kai suddenly realized something quite peculiar- the money was not important right now. But Tala was.

"Heeey, Kai buddy!" A slurry male grabbed Kai from behind and he spun around quicker than light. It was Brooklyn, a little more sophisticated than Tala, thank God. "I would like to congratulate you on turning Tala around. You made an impossible task possible."

Kai narrowed his eyes, but not at Brooklyn, at the whole concept of the situation. He _needed_ to look for Tala, badly.

Suddenly a fresh boast of music shook the place down. It was louder and pumped with rhythm, the tapping of someone's shoes against something wooden rocking the house. Kai and Brooklyn turned around in awe- and both their expressions were complete opposites at what they saw.

Tala was stood on the rounded dining table, dancing away to the beat of the music which a prowl of drunkards surrounding him, their hands in the air.

Brooklyn stared at Kai then flung his arms in the air and rushed over to the crowd. "OH YEAH BABY!"

Kai gulped and followed. _Oh God._

The red head's feet pattered against the table brilliantly, his moves out shining all the others.

"Yeaaah shake that ass!" Some randomer called out from the crowd, their head bobbing up and down. Everyone except Kai was dancing, which made him look more the fool. He looked up at Tala in amazement, his seemingly drunk phase hitting new heights.

He held his hips as he wriggled about, pulling off some sweet and sexy moves. What had Kai is that he didn't speak as he danced, kept a straight face and seemed concentrated on perfecting his saucy routine that fit well with the smooth yet dirty music.

Something trapped Kai. He knew his number one priority was to maintain Tala's safety, but a new realization had been unlocked on watching Tala perform. He really had the crowd going, they were shouting and edging him on, some people even throwing alcohol all over him.

"Damn, he's hot!"

Kai heard the revelation and didn't even bother to disagree with it. He needed to keep his eye on Tala, make sure he didn't fall, make sure he didn't-

A crack of a bottle was heard, seemingly having flew against the table and smashed around Tala's feet. And Tala was tumbling, eyes closing slowly and as the teens moved out of the way, Kai slid across the floor and caught him bridal style, wrapping his arms tightly around the drunken teen's body.

The kids cheered and waved their cans and bottles in the air, celebrating Tala's dancing outburst. The show was over, and so was Tala. Kai lifted him gently onto the floor on his feet, relieved he still seemed concious. "Tala? Tala? You okay?" He asked close to his face, his breath whispering against his skin.

Tala was not sober enough to notice how close Kai's face was. "I'm fine!" He spat, pushing Kai away, only to stumble again and Kai quickly grabbed him, locking his hands under his armpits.

The teen brushed some hair out of the way of Tala's face and began to guide him towards the door, where fresh air lied. "Come on." Kai told him, thankful Tala's feet dragged the same way as his. The air outside was like stepping into heaven- there were still some people dotted here and there, but it was no where near as stuffy and crowded as it was inside, and, for once, Kai was glad to be away from cigarette smoke.

"Hmmm... naked peoples...." Tala muttered, looking at a bunch of people who were streaking. For some reason Kai looked over but immediately tore his eyes away, wincing. Max's stripfest was still going on. And he was pretty sure they were urinating on trees. "Hey! You guys, leave that tree alone!" That confirmed it. Not that he cared. He just cared about Tala.

"All right, sit here..." Kai said, carefully sitting Tala on a bench. "Try not to sleep. You may have a concussion."

Tala made a funny noise that sounded like, "Mergghhhh" then sat upright on the bench, his line of vision all over the place. Kai looked down at him for a moment, then wiped the sweat from his forehead. He sure was a handful.

"Kai!" Hilary was wandering over, and she didn't look happy.

Kai sighed and shook his head. "Look, I'm sorry but I'm busy-" He said, gesturing his head towards Tala.

"It won't take a second.." She sniffed. When a single tear rolled down her cheek, he re-thought and grabbed her arm, pulling her out of ear reach from Tala.

"What is it?" He folded his arms.

The distraught girl shook her head slowly. "That's it. The whole thing is off. Tyson wants Brooklyn, not me. He's been using me all along." Kai looked at her sympathetically, but seriously disliking her lack of motivation. To be honest, the whole thing was tiresome.

"Look, Hilary. It's simple. You like Tyson. Are you going to give up that easily? What sort of person are you? I always got the impression you were strong as you already knew want you wanted. Brooklyn isn't a patch against you- just tell him everything," Kai sighed when he finished, wondering for a second where all of that had came from.

He glanced at Tala to check up on him, just as the red head lost balance on the bench and began to fall to the ground. Kai quickly dived towards him and grabbed his shoulders, pulled him fully onto his feet then slung his arm around him. Tala was mumbling something, his head rocking slowly back and fourth against Kai's shoulder, eyes unsure whether to stay open.

"Let's... get naked with the naked peoples..." Tala said dreary. Kai ignored him and threw Hilary a look before wandering off, unsure yet of his location. He just needed to keep Tala awake.

---

Somehow, partly led by Tala, the two boys found themselves climbing a green grassy hill towards a set of swings that was part of the gigantic garden. The silence was probably the reason they had been lured to the area, the sounds of kids screaming easily blocked out by the gentle trickling of water from a stone angel fountain.

"Hills are fun to roll down!" Tala announced suddenly, trying to loosen Kai's grip. He only managed to hit the ground with his knees but pretended he was rolling anyway. "Weeee!"

Kai half-smiled. "Okay, stand up you lunatic."

Tala chuckled. "Sorry. I've never had this sort of fun before."

"Well, I'm guessing this is your first time being completely smashed?"

"Actually, I was talking about hill-rolling."

Kai actually laughed. "At least you have an excuse. You're smashed." He shook his head to himself as they finally reached the top of the hill. They had a great view of Kenny's huge house. "Come on, sit down..." He directed Tala to the swing but the red head sat on it limply, his arms dangling down like a monkey.

Kai grabbed a hold of Tala's two hands and wrapped them around the swing's ropes, keeping his hands there for a second then dropped them, making sure Tala's grip was tight. He stood over Tala's swing for the time being. "Why...." Tala began clumsily, appearing as though he was trying to reclaim himself. "Why are you helping me?"

"Because you may have a concussion," Kai answered quickly.

Tala looked up at him thoughtfully. "You actually care?"

Kai grinned. "Sure. You're mad, I know that, but I do care."

The red head faced forward again towards the fountain. He noticed that if he listened closely enough, he could hear crickets and birds and all sorts of wild animals in the night. His concentration listening was so severe he felt himself pausing and suddenly his whole body tumbled backwards.

He felt two arms grip him before he hit the floor, his hair bristling against the grass.

"Shit..." Kai caught Tala just in time and pushed his body back up, helping him grip the swing again. He wrapped his warm hands around Tala's cold ones, directing his fingers and curling them around the rope before letting go. Tala started to giggle.

Kai flopped himself down on the swing next to him, still keeping an eye on Tala. The boy appeared to be in a daze, but he was most definitely sobering up, very slowly. There was a short pause of silence until Kai decided to break it. "So, er... what is it with you and Brooklyn anyway? Why do you two always fight?"

Tala let out a loud, over-exaggerated sigh. "I hate him."

"Oh? Really?" Kai replied sarcastically, smiling.

"Ya really..." Tala grinned back. "Uhh...." Kai must have looked away for a second but by the time he looked back, Tala's eyes were closed and he was leaning against the swing, looking deep in slumber. His red eyes widened in horror and Kai jumped off his swing.

"No, Tala. Wake up," He resorted to slapping Tala gently on the cheek. "Tala!" He still wasn't waking so he continued to slap him, cupped his jaw and gradually got harder as the time went on. "Tala!"

Finally, Tala's eyes twitched and he was greeted with Kai's face. He lazily looked up at a very stricken-Kai, gazing quite wondrously as though he'd just discovered something new. Kai raised his eyebrows as Tala continued to stare into his eyes, his head moving to the side.

"Wow... your eyes..." Tala smiled. "They have a little pink in them."

Kai stood back and stared at him for a second. Then the widest grin spread across his lips.

But then before his very eyes, Tala's face turned paler, greener, and a hurdle of smelly liquid erupted from his mouth all over Kai's shoes. The blue-haired teen made a quiet noise of disgust and winced.

_Great. Just great... _He grabbed a hold of Tala's shoulders for support as he continued to hurl.

---

Tyson stood on his own, gazing at the people around him. He'd never felt so isolated before. He was the rat among the mice. It wasn't a nice feeling.

"Hey, Ty!" The teen spun around and saw Ray coming up from behind. At least he had Ray to keep him company. Tyson smiled, but, upon seeing the person following Ray, his smile dropped abruptly.

It was Brooklyn. And he was smirking, his hand on Ray's shoulder. Tyson pushed away his stupor for the moment. "Oh, hey Ray."

"Tyson, you coming to Rick's for a while?" Brooklyn asked, his arm now slung sluggishly around Ray.

Tyson stared at him. "Oh... damn. I can't. I have to be home." He wasn't sure what Brooklyn's game was but all he knew is that he didn't like it. Whatever it was, it involved his best friend. _Or.. is he my best friend?_

Ray grinned smugly. "You're gonna miss out."

"But you know I can't."

Brooklyn shrugged helplessly. "Well, too bad. Let's go, Ray!"

Tyson felt his jaw drop involuntary as Brooklyn and Ray walked straight past him. "Ray!" Tyson cried in dismay.

Ray didn't even bother to look at him and carried on.

If the feeling of being alone couldn't get any more intense at this point, then he'd just set a new record. He gaped after them, suddenly feeling sick. "Bastard.." He muttered under his breath, shoulders low and whole posture slung in disbelief. How could Ray do this to him? He was _supposed_ to be his best friend.

Nothing seemed fair any more, he'd lost everything. Ray, Brooklyn.... Hilary. He so badly wanted to cry. He'd never felt so low before in his life. But he forced back the tears, biting on his bottom lip, determined not to let them win.

"You okay?"

The female voice whipped straight past Tyson and now walking in front of him was Hilary, her face still red and still obviously peeved. Her voice dripped with sarcasm.

"Not really," Tyson sniffed, and Hilary stopped in her tracks. He continued. "I don't know where Tala is. And I want to go home."

---

Tala was finally able to fend for himself, just about. Kai had one arm around him and had flung Tala's around him, carrying him like he had a broken leg. It was time for Tala to go home, Kai had figured after the throwing-up session. Obviously, he wouldn't be driving, which meant he would have to drive his car.

Kai opened the car door for Tala. "Okay, in you go.." He said, unlatching Tala from his body and settling him down in the passenger seat. He slammed the door shut and turned around-

Only to come face to face with a now dressed Max Tate, his deep blue eyes possessing nothing but trouble.

Kai glared at him. "What do you want?"

Max leant coolly against the side of the car, examining his nails as he spoke. "I'm two hundred short of my sports car, Kai."

Kai grunted in annoyance. "It may be difficult, now."

Max raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

To the blonde's surprise, Kai pushed Max quite harshly off the car and began to walk around to the other side. "Fuck you. That's what I mean." And that was that, he hopped in the car and was off in a flash of light.

Now that wasn't what Max had expected. But he wasn't one to be double-crossed, under any circumstances. _Oh, he'll pay for that... _He grinned, staring after the car, nothing but clear hatred and no innocence grasped in his eyes.

---

Hilary kept a straight face the whole journey, ignoring the fact that Tyson was in the seat next to her. The atmosphere was tenser than ever, not even the gentle night sky helped to deduct it. Finally, when Hilary reached Tyson's house, she pulled up along side the road and turned off the car engine, the small space suddenly drained from any noise whatsoever.

The brunette didn't even look at him, but broke the silence. She had so much to say and it all burst out at once.

"As I got to know you, I realized you weren't quite the charmer I thought you were. Inside, you're so cold, self-centred and _heartless_," She rasped, tears threatening to fall. Tyson listened in silence. "That doesn't make an attractive guy. It makes me want to puke. You really did have me for a second. You used me so you could get closer to Brooklyn."

Tyson was gazing down, twiddling with his thumbs. Everything she said was true. He was a heartless, bitchy bastard. And it made him feel like shit. "Hil...." He began, looking up into her angry eyes. "I'm sorry. You're right. I am heartless. I am self-centred. I'm not myself..."

Hilary scoffed. "Are you even _straight_!?"

"I was just so overwhelmed a girl liked me. None had ever shown interest in me, they all thought I was gay, due to my camp-ness, so all the attention I got was from guys. If you convince yourself you're gay, after a while you start to believe it..." He trailed off but then began again. "It's like... being gay at school is your ultimate weapon. You have to be popular to be happy. I learnt...-"

Hilary nodded. "So, you'd never be happy with me? Is that it? You were too ashamed to admit you were straight because I was the only ever girl to show interest in you, and I'm ugly? Or what? You tell me."

Tyson held up his hands in defence. "Let me finish...... I learnt you _don't_... need to be popular to be happy. I could have kissed Brooklyn back and been the most popular guy in school. But... I still wouldn't have been happy. People aren't always what they seem. So yes, the gay thing was just an act to get in with the wrong crowd."

Hilary opened her mouth to reply but Tyson cut her off. "I'm trying this new thing, you see..." He smiled at her. "Always be yourself and no one else."

The girl stared at him, looking considerate, but then her face turned sour again. "But... After everything I did for you, I found your brother a date so your sorry ass could date me, and what do you go and do? You pull a fast one and go to Brooklyn. Do you realize how much you've hurt me-"

"You've done more for me than any other person ever has..." And as if shock had a whole new meaning, Tyson's lips were pressed against Hilary's, the stunned girl freezing momentarily. He moved against her softly, rose his hand up and held the side of her face like she was the most fragile thing in the world.

Hilary began to get caught up in the moment and finally kissed him back, tears now streaming down her face. Only a few hours ago her world had been smashed into pieces. But now, slowly, it was rekindling, the pieces fitting again nicely like a jigsaw.

One last kiss and Tyson pulled away, smiling into her eyes. They shared a moment of gazing before Tyson threw her a little wave, got out of the car and headed to his house, leaving her feeling so baffled yet on top of the world.

---

Everything was muted in the car as Kai drove along, his eyes dragging to the corner to see what Tala was doing every now and then. The red head seemed unusually quiet for a drunk, instead gazing out of the window, viewing the sights as though he was on Safari.

Quiet gurgling noises were coming from Tala.

"Tala, if you're going to be sick, open the window and do it out there. Your Grandpa won't like it," Kai suggested, keeping his eye on the road ahead.

Tala grunted. "I'm not going to be sick. And I don't care whether my Gramps likes it or not."

Kai found himself giggling. He was definitely sobering up. "I should have guessed."

Tala seemed to turn on the defensive side. "No, you shouldn't have, because you don't know me at all. People just see me as this big scary maniac..." His house was literally just a few yards away, and Kai pulled up onto the side of the road. The key turned and the car came to a full halt.

The slate-haired teen turned to Tala fully this time, catching sight of the stars winking overhead out of the window. "I think I'm getting to know you quite well. And, well..." He rubbed the back of his head. "I know what it feels like to be labelled a maniac. But it's acceptable. Because I'd rather they didn't know the true me than knowing everything about me."

Tala stared at him now, his aqua eyes glowing like traffic lights in the dark. He looked confused by Kai's words, though after a short ponder, he smiled. For a few awkward seconds, it was blue against red, locking together and shining brighter than the stars above. The moment wasn't entirely justified by Kai. It was uncomfortable but for some reason he found he couldn't pull away, trapped in the depths of Tala's eyes.

Confusion took over and eventually, finding it within himself to break the contact, he looked forward then back at him. "So, uh, why does your Grandpa have all these strict rules?"

Tala then broke his eye contact, but returned his gaze almost immediately. "He's just scared Tyson'll catch something. But then again he's scared I'll kill someone one day," He smirked and Kai chuckled. "He wants me to be more like Tyson."

Kai raised his eyebrow. "What, you mean like an angel?" Tala looked at him oddly. "Never done anything wrong? Well... I know everyone likes Tyson in _that_ way, but erm... where's the fun in an angel?" Tala stared at him, Kai nodding towards his devil-like hair.

A slow, but sure smile spread across Tala's lips, Kai appeared to have hit a spot somewhere that really brought out that smile now. He really did have a great smile, Kai hadn't actually realized it until now.

"You know..." Tala began, moving forward much to Kai's shock. "You're not so bad yourself..." Kai's dark red eyes rose open when Tala's closed, his lips pouting and slowly moved in towards his face. For a moment Kai was froze in awe, completely having not expected him to want a kiss.

He guessed some of it was the drink. But he seemed serious, his face growing close, and all the while Kai's eyes widened even more, his mouth open. Tala stopped inches before he hit Kai's lips, his fuelled breath ghosting against his skin. It seemed he was waiting for Kai to kiss him first. But nothing came. Just a couple of words that sent Tala's world crashing down.

"Sorry, not now..." Kai bit his bottom lip, hating himself. There was no way he could do anything with Tala while the 'deal' was still ongoing. It wouldn't be fair.

Tala immediately pulled away and Kai looked at him, seeing the clear anger and hurt wrapped within his face. Before Kai could stop him, Tala rammed the car door open and slammed it after him.

* * *

Woo! XD Poor Tala!! Long chapter I know, I was determined to get all this into one lol. Double Tala and Kai cookies for reviewers XD Thankies!


	8. Kiss and Make Up

=) Gosh I'm rather late again XD. I haven't felt like writing a lot lately... for some reason... but here it is! Lots of thanks to readers and reviewers! I hope you enjoyed your cookies.

* * *

Kiss and Make-Up

With last night still fresh on his mind, Tala walked into class with his head pretty low, unable to face the taunts and imitations of him dancing he received from his classmates.

"Oh la la!" Some guy wriggled his body in front of Tala, to which he snubbed him and flopped his bottom down in his chair.

"Taaangooo," Brooklyn grinned, continuing to act like a prat and stood in front of Tala's desk dancing. Or, in Tala's mind, _attempting_ to dance.

"You thick fuck, do you even know what tango is?" Tala snorted, and Brooklyn looked at him blankly. "The colour of your ass hair." The whole class burst into laughter and Brooklyn mumbled something obscene under his breath, before sitting down as Mr. Morgan entered the room.

The red head looked around as the teacher began to speak, noticing a certain someone's seat was empty. Not that he cared. Kai could go disappear in a dark, deep hole for all he cared.

"So, everyone have a good weekend?" Mr. Morgan asked, yawning as he said it. His disinterest couldn't have been made any more obvious. But, Brooklyn being the idiot, decided to speak up.

"Just great. The highlight was witnessing that freak over there become all social like. He moves through the stages fast, by twelve he was already dancing like a hooker," Brooklyn grinned, as the whole class gasped but giggled. Tala and Mr. Morgan did not look too impressed.

"Right. And here I was hoping he'd kicked your ginger ass," The teacher said with a straight face.

"Hahahaha!" Tala burst out laughing. Brooklyn once again pulled his, 'not amused' face, like he was a queen or something.

Mr. Morgan pulled Tala an unfriendly look then began to wander around the room, in between the desks as he spoke. "Everyone remember that famous Shakespeare sonnet we've been studying? Yes? Good." He ignored the hand that was up in the air. "For your second assignment of the term you are to write your own version of it."

Tala nodded. "Cool."

Mr. Morgan raised his eyebrow. "Are you being funny with me sonny?"

The teen looked bemused. "What, no? I'm being serious. Sounds like a good assignment at last."

The teacher walked slowly towards him then laughed in mockery, before suddenly churning his face into a car wreck. "Get out of my class."

"What!?"

"Perkys, now!" Mr. Morgan pointed towards the door. Tala stared at him for a second in complete shock, before gathering up his stuff and walking out of the class.

That teacher baffled him at times.

---

"Hi," The unfamiliar voice called sweetly from somewhere nearby. Bryan raised his eyebrow and ignored it, not because he was rude, but because he wasn't particularly interested. He shoved his gym bag into his locker then closed it, turned around, and found the source.

He stared for a second with his sharp eyes. He'd never seen her before in his life. She had pink hair tied back in a ribboned ponytail, cat-like eyes and a baby face. Not really his type of girl, he thought absently, but she was fairly pretty.

"_Shall I compare thee to a summer's day_?" Mariah's grin spread wider when Bryan's bemusement shone across his face like that Summer's day.

He half-smiled. "_Thou art more lovely and more temperate_."

Mariah giggled. "Shakespeare."

"Right," He nodded and smiled. "You a fan, too? You like his poems?"

"Oh," Her eyes widened. "Actually, I just saw the poster of him in your locker and thought I'd be clever. That's the only one I actually know." She blushed a little.

Bryan's smile didn't budge. "So... who are you?" He asked with mixed interest.

"I'm Mariah. I was wondering if you could help me with something. See, I know someone who likes your friend, Tala..."

---

Kai and Hilary sat on a bench close to the football ground, both of them eyeing up a certain flaming-haired wolf. As usual, he was playing a rather rough game of football, thrashing the opposing team without a second thought for their welfare. Pushing, shoving. It's how he played the game.

The slate-haired teen sighed as he watched, then turned to Hilary. "I don't like it that he's mad at me, but... I suppose it's time to stop all this."

The brunette spun her head around and stared at him in surprise. "What? Why? The plan is working, oh, okay sure, you two have had a little falling out, but couples fight all the time."

Kai narrowed his eyes at her. "I thought you said the plan was off the other night anyway?"

Suddenly her face flashed into a fireball, her cheek bones turning rose red. She looked down and twiddled with her hands. "I did but... he kissed me!" She squealed.

Kai grinned at her. It was great seeing her beaming with happiness now. Shame he couldn't say the same for Tala. He did generally feel really bad about what happened, and for a second, he continued to watch the girl's bright and jolly face set to burst. He actually felt happy for her. But everything was such a mess, he had no idea what he was going to do.

"So, there is reason to continue this. If you take Tala to the prom, then I can go with Tyson!"

Kai sighed. "But there's nothing in it for me any more."

"There is! Brooklyn's money! Tyson might play along too, if I ask him, and make Brooklyn think he still has Ty where he wants him. Please do this- just until the prom. Please... " Hilary begged, her hands clasped together like she was praying.

He pondered. _But I'm not going to give Max any more satisfaction. There is no reason for me to do this... just to help out Hilary, I suppose. But then again I don't particularly care if Tyson gets to go to the prom or not. But Tala... maybe... maybe there is a reason._

Kai shook his head. "Tala hates proms and social events. He won't go."

"Guys!" The two both looked across the football ground to see Mariah come running up, looking flustered as she dodged in between the football players. She launched herself on the bench next to Kai, huffing and puffing to catch her breath. "Well.. uh... Tala said there is no chance of him and Kai ever hooking up again because he hates him like he hates cabbage."

Kai groaned. "How comforting. Looks like I'm ruling out the kiss and make-up cabbage lunch surprise then."

The two girls looked at him sceptically.

"Joking," He sighed.

"Oh, uhm... Bryan didn't say much either. He just said the way to win Tala back would be through music.... " Kai and Hilary looked at her hopefully. "...Whatever the hell that means." Their faces dropped.

"Now what?" Hilary sighed.

Suddenly something white came hurdling in their direction like a meteor through space. Hilary bent her head to the side and Kai had to fully bend down to avoid whatever it was. When it launched past their heads they realized it was a ball, and stood watching them, was Tala.

Mariah gritted her teeth. "Jeez, he hates you a lot, Kai. You've got some serious grovelling to do."

---

Walking on his own down the corridor, Tyson only had one person on his mind- Hilary. Friday night was steaming through his head, the sweet scent of her face so close up and the gorgeous smoothness of her lips. He smiled to himself. She was simply perfect. And he knew that it was her that he had liked all along. The only downfall was it'd taken him so long to realize. He had a lot of making up to do, starting today. He'd ask her to go to the cinema with him after her current class was finished, then pick her up for it at seven. His Grandpa didn't have to know about it.

"Still mad with me?"

Tyson groaned. He turned around to see he had been followed by Brooklyn.

"A little," Tyson grunted, and continued to walk on, disinterested. Obviously Brooklyn didn't catch the hint.

"Tell you what. Go to the prom with me. I'll pay for your suit. Or dress, whatever," The ginger smirked, walking along side him.

Tyson raised his eyebrows. A sudden thought crossed his mind. There would be no prom unless Tala went. And he'd supposedly fallen out with Kai, plus there didn't seem like a chance in hell they'd make-up. Usually, once Tala had fallen out with a possible love interest, that was it. They only ever got one chance. "I can't go unless Tala goes." He spoked quickly.

"He is going..."

Tyson stared at him. "What? No he's not."

Brooklyn grinned. "Trust me, he will be..." And with that, he wandered off.

---

Kai stared down at the bundle of money held out before him, looking tempted to take it, yet feeling the complete opposite inside.

"I'll pay for your whole prom. Three hundred should be enough for clothes, limo, everything," Brooklyn explained. Kai bit his bottom lip, staring at the money. He didn't know what he was going to do. There was no reason for him to take it, he'd well and truly finished with Max. He wasn't going to give that little twerp any more money.

Nothing was fair on Tala. He was the victim in the whole thing, but it felt like Kai was the one suffering the most. His head was torn, his heart was torn, he hated being so split. He had nothing against taking Tala to the prom, as perhaps it would be a good chance to make up with him so there were no hard feelings- and better yet, he didn't have to pay for it, as the money was being offered right in front of him.

While that thought was fresh on his mind, he took the money quickly while he still agreed with it. Brooklyn smiled, patted him on the shoulder then walked off. And afterwards, the agreement vanished, and he began to wonder what the hell was wrong with him. Now holding the money, it seemed he had no choice, like it was the right thing to do.

---

Kai knew he was brave having followed Tala at least three miles all across town during lunch break. Strangely, he hadn't even noticed him by the time the red head pulled up outside a guitar shop. Kai didn't follow him inside, but instead stood and watched Tala through the window as he examined and pretended to play a certain white guitar.

He narrowed his eyes. It reminded him of something Mariah had said. What was it_... "Oh, uhm... Bryan didn't say much either. He just said the way to win Tala back would be through music.... "_

"Hmm..."

Next, Tala took him back to school and into the library. It was surprising, considering Tala disliked school as it was, that he'd spend his time in a library. It made Kai think that maybe there was a lot more to Tala than meets the eye.

Kai walked along the opposite bookshelf, looking through a gap as Tala walked along, following his exact line of footstep until the very end where the shelf cut off. He jumped out but Tala didn't look the least surprised, instead, he still look as peeved as he did before.

"Last place I expected you'd be," Kai grinned.

Tala rolled his eyes. "And you." He walked away and started rummaging through a pile of books.

Kai followed him. "How many times do I have to say sorry?"

The red head didn't look up at him. "You can say it as many times as you like, but I'm not forgiving. You hurt me."

The boy's eyes widened slightly before rolling to the side, pondering. It was strange hearing that from Tala. But the sudden mess of the whole situation rose upon him then- what was once a silly little game to earn money to pay off Max was turning into a real game with real feelings being hurt. It wasn't justified at all, even Kai knew that.

The only thing he could do was charm his way through it and try to make it up to him. "You know, you're not as hard and motionless as some people think."

Tala rolled his eyes again. "What? Because I'm in the library? If you must know I'm looking for a stupid Shakespeare anthology to help me with my assignment."

"Right... well, in case you haven't noticed, I'm here to make-up."

"Really? But not... KISS and make-up?"

Kai bit his upper lip. "Hm. Whatever. Untwist your panties, you moody bastard." His attempt to humour failed.

"That language is fucking disgraceful," Tala grunted, before shoving a book into Kai's chest and wandered off.

Kai stared down at the title of the book and frowned. _'One Hundred Ways to Kill Your Ex_.'

That was it. Kai slammed the book down and jogged out of the library. What could he possibly do now, what possible lengths could he go to to win Tala round? Candy and flowers? Somehow he didn't think Tala would buy that. And his last resort was far from cheap, seeing as he had to pay the guy over five hundred to get everything set up.

He used the money Brooklyn had gave him for the prom and some of his own. This was it. The romantic gesture he had in mind, if performed by millions of grieving men who had cheated on their wives in an attempt to win back, then the world would be a very love-filled place. Any woman or man would take to it. If Tala didn't, then he truly was a mutant.

* * *

:P Disclaimer: I don't own Shakespeare either. Well, actually I do, he lives in a cage under my bed. But fan fiction doesn't know that. Mwhaha.  
Okay okay, I don't own any of his poems. -_-  
Haha I was just watching some of 10 Things, and one of the teachers says, "Now, I know that Shakespeare's a dead white guy, but he knows his shit." OMG it cracked me XD Anyway.

Well, there we go... a short chapter at last! Yeaaaah.... So, who'd like naked Bryan cookies? They're fresh! -kinky smiley face- Please review XDDD!!!!


	9. Can't Take My Eyes Off You

Short and sweet- I am **SOOOOO** sorry for leaving this for so long -_-. You'll be glad to know everything will be very Tala/Kai focused from now on xD Enjoy =)

* * *

Can't Take My Eyes Off You

It was another sunny day on the football pitch, as usual, Tala and his team were thrashing the opposing losers without vain. The afternoon had been relatively uneventful besides that, and now they were all just having a little friendly cool down.

Suddenly, the whole pitch seemed to shake from the loud screech that sounded like someone screaming into a microphone. Only, it was much too loud to be a single microphone, more like the resident DJ had set up his equipment somewhere. From the millions of seats surrounding the pitch, gliding upwards like a real football stadium, from somewhere, a familiar voice began to sound.

_"You're just too good to be true.  
Can't take my eyes off you."_

Immediately the ball stopped rolling and all eyes on the pitch halted, including the on lookers. It was a guy's voice, singing probably one of the most famous songs ever to be written. Their bewilderment showed on every one of their faces.

_  
"You'd be like Heaven to touch.  
I wanna hold you so much."_

Tala raised his eyebrows, his eyes widening with a whole new meaning. No. It couldn't be. But he knew it was. He looked around frantically, disbelieving that actually someone in their right mind would start singing and broadcast it at the stadium.

Eyes wary, he slowly looked up, and there he was- blue hair, dark red eyes. The only person he knew as Kai.  
_  
"At long last love has arrived  
And I thank God I'm alive."_

He couldn't suppress the upcoming heart beat that seemed to last a lifetime as Kai slid his body down a pole, microphone in hand, then stood at the very top of the steps in the gigantic sports arena.  
_  
"You're just too good to be true.  
Can't take my eyes off you."_

Kai grinned and pointed directly at Tala with his finger, causing the red head to stare in astonishment before blinking repeatedly, unable to believe his eyes.

He had no time to express his stun as Kai seemed to have everything planned and prepared and was raring. What once had been the band players lazing about in the sun, suddenly turned out to play a bigger part in this than expected. With two whistle blows, suddenly the whole band were marching across the football pitch with their big band instruments, playing the tune of the song nicely.

The whole football team giggled in amazement but loved every second of it, smiling and laughing away while Tala just stood and stared, unable to do anything. He opened his mouth in awe, a fresh smile whipping across his lips. He let out a little squeal and looked back up at Kai, who was now in the stands, dancing in front of God knows how many people.

Suddenly his voice burst into a decade of madness under the starling sun.

_"I love you, baby,  
And if it's quite alright,  
I need you, baby,"_

Tala couldn't keep his mouth shut and continued to watch in awe, a faint blush appearing over his overwhelmed cheeks. Every word he sang was steaming with such emotion and meaning, it came purely from the heart and the effort he put in was simply amazing. He still couldn't express his delight, but he was very much taken aback.  
_  
"To warm a lonely night.  
I love you, baby.  
Trust in me when I saaaaaaaay,"_

Kai grinned and sat down on one of the steps, next to a bunch of sceptical people, but then jumped up again like a springing rabbit and started to dance down the isles, swinging his arms back and fourth, appearing in a whole new light Tala had never seen before.  
_  
"Oh, pretty baby,  
Don't bring me down, I pray.  
Oh, pretty baby, now that I found you, stay!"_

The red head shook his head, still laughing and smiling in surprise. It hadn't fully registered yet Kai was doing all this for him, singing and probably humiliating himself in front of everyone. Although, his singing voice wasn't half bad and he looked rather sexy doing all of his sexy dance moves. Twirling, grinning, twirling. No one had ever done anything like this for him before, never. It was like a triple Valentine's present, except it wasn't actually Valentine's day.

Kai finally sang the last blow, this one coming straight from his heart and out towards Tala.  
_  
"And let me love you, baby.  
Let me love you......"_

Tala let out a squeal of delight and all of his team mates, including the opposing team and many other people surrounding, began to clap and cheer him, before two of the school guards came from behind Kai and grabbed him under his arms. Using his quick reflexes, Kai dodged their attack and began to dance up and down the isles, the show continuing.

He was making a complete mockery of them, his young and healthy body too fast for their old, plump ones, still running up and down the steps and escaping their attempts to catch him. He was like a clown, patting his feet against the steps and swinging his arms out gracefully like a comic.

Everyone laughed, Tala the most, as he ran past and spanked one of the guards in mockery. Tala had never seen anything so funny, especially as it was coming from Kai. He eventually escaped the presence of the pitch with the guards still following, and despite his now disappearance, everyone was still cheering and laughing, each one of them wishing they were the one he was singing to, and wishing that their potential other half would do something as romantic as that.

Tala bit his bottom lip, shook his head and smiled. Everything cold and unwelcoming he once felt inside felt warm and opened, like a flower blooming.

---

Okay, so maybe Kai had won Tala over. _Maybe. _He hadn't seen Tala since that little performance he put on, which he was still red in the face about. Despite that it was probably worth it. Although he'd rather he hadn't been caught by the guards, and wasn't sat where he was now, under the supervision of Tala's football coach in detention with a bunch of other teenagers.

He supposed it was a risk worth taking, in the end. But now he was bored stupid and missing valuable smoking time while Tala wasn't around.

The grey-haired man was slouched against a desk, his watchful eyes gazing around the room. He seemed to take a shine to one particular lad at the back of the class who was cowering into his hands. The teacher didn't look the slightest bit sympathetic.

"Shouldn't have urinated on the principle's car then, should you Jack?" He scoffed and the boy simply began to sulk louder.

Kai rolled his eyes. _Another hour of this... great._

"And Sarah, you shouldn't have flashed the Janitor."

Suddenly, the door behind them opened but none bothered to look around. But when Kai heard the voice, his head immediately zipped into turning action. "Mr. Chippy?"

Kai felt a grin appear on his face. It was Tala, who was wandering over to the teacher with a much cunning expression on his face. He threw Kai a wink before confronting Mr. Chippy with a thoughtful face.

"Can I talk to you a minute?" Asked Tala, not waiting for an answer. "See, the football team needs your amazing coaching skills to help us. We're facing off against those bastards from that pish posh school next week, and they know us inside out, so we need a new plan. I may have one, but I want your permission."

Mr. Chippy looked severely disinterested. "Cool. Show those bastards a thing or two. Let's talk about this later." He turned away and sighed.

Tala caught Kai's eye contact and pushed his finger towards the window, mimicking the word with his mouth. Kai twitched his eyes, not understanding, but then Tala mouthed, "Window" out loud, causing the teacher to turn around and look at him.

The red head grinned. "Heh, yeah, it could do with a clean, it's so dirty... like my plan! We need to talk about this now, you see..." Tala grabbed the man's jacket and pulled him out of view of Kai, who was creeping his way around to the front of the class. "Uh..." He improvised.

"So, we're gonna have to score to win right?"

"Right..."

The clicking of Kai's feet sounded in the background, but before Mr. Chippy could investigate, Tala grabbed his attention again by gripping his cheek, much to his bewilderment. "So, we need to distract them, like this, uhm, when we're running left-" He forced Mr. Chippy's head to the left. "We need to get them to run right." He turned him to the right. "So then we can score!"

"Right... but how do we distract them?" The teacher's voice trailed off when he distantly heard the window open, until Tala pulled him back quite viciously. His next actions were all for Kai, and only as a last resort. At least, he didn't plan on making a habit of it.

"Like this!" Tala sounded and with that, pulled down his pants. Everything. His underwear too. The whole class burst into a sound of gasps and laughter while Mr. Chippy stared in astonishment, his eyes popping out of his head and not even bothering to look away.

Tala bit his bottom lip, cringing, but at least it worked- Kai was now no where in sight. "Aha..." He remorselessly pulled his clothing back up and didn't bother to hide his red face. "So, er..." Mr. Chippy wasn't the only one lost for words. "Now... you have... seen the plan... I'll put it into action!" He suddenly yelled and zipped towards the door, just as the whole class began to cheer and clap him.

Everyone knew Mr. Chippy was as camp as Christmas, but they didn't expect him to stand there staring into thin air for the rest of the detention.

---

"...Kai?"

Kai spun around, his frown abruptly turning into a gentle smile. Tala stood before him, his flaming red hair bristling slowly in the wind in time with the trees. After escaping from detention, Kai had wandered to the quiet garden area of the school and sat and waited for him, hoping Tala knew him so well as to come here- where it was quiet and peaceful. And, it seemed... he did.

"Tala," Kai spoke simply, his ruby eyes not once leaving Tala.

"It's a nice day," Tala said quickly. "Shame to waste it here... at school."

Kai stared at him. Then slowly, a much meaningful grin spread across his lips.

---

The two of them found themselves wandering aimlessly, having crossed the river in the city and were now having a walk through the trees, which had all been led by Kai. Not that Tala minded, he hadn't been along this part of town for ages. And it was kind of nice. The sun was blazing above them and everything was so settling, the juicy green grass filling their noses and the sound of absolutely nothing except nature pulled them in.

"Thanks for getting me out of detention. You crack head," Kai smirked at Tala who in return grinned.

"I'm not that crazy-" Tala began and Kai laughed. "Well okay, maybe a little."

"Considering you strided yourself in front of a teacher," Kai grinned.

"...Considering you were in detention for singing a cheesy song," Tala threw back, smiling. "Which by the way, I can't believe you did. I think I feel embarrassed for you."

Kai chuckled happily. _Finally, everything is... normal again. I didn't realize I'd hate having Tala mad at me as much as I did... it says a lot. He's not mad at me any more, and that's all that matters. Now there's just... _

"We're pretty much the same, aren't we?" Tala broke Kai's trail of thought. "We're both kind of loners... we act the same. We both have our reasons for acting like bastards."

The slate-haired teen nodded. "So, what's your reason for acting like a bastard?"

The question must have hit a soft spot somewhere within Tala, because his eyes seemed to dim and he scowled to himself, taking a couple of seconds before answering. "I just... don't like doing what other people want me to do. I don't like following the crowd. It's stupid and pointless, and only leads to... to heartbreak."

Kai raised his eyebrow. Well... he didn't expect that. Not such a strong heartfelt admittance, anyway. He watched as Tala's face slowly settled again, his eyes brightening back up. He stared a little bit more. And a little longer. Until he felt himself begin to slowly pull into the depths of Tala's bluey eyes.

His heart skipped a beat. Then it began to sped up fast, the longer he stared at Tala, the weirder the feeling became. It was so troublesome, Kai just didn't know what to do any more. His 'straight' secret identity would be broken, and despite the amount of times he told people he was straight, the stronger the denial became.

What would happen if he threw everything away? It wasn't his style, and it certainly wasn't Tala's... was it?

"What?" Tala broke his thoughts once more and was almost taken aback when Tala faced him.

Kai bit his bottom lip as far down as he could without making it bleed. He really did want to show Tala how much he meant to him- in all ways. "I... I really can't take my eyes off you."

The red head looked shocked for a second, but then raised a single eyebrow, looking quite humorous. "That's quite enough cheese for one day."

Kai felt a little reluctant to reply by his reaction, but smiled nonetheless. He loved Tala's wits more than smoking. Was that normal? _Perhaps... _"I happen to like cheese, actually."

"Yeah? Well I also happen to like paint balling, but I wouldn't do it everyday..."

"I know," Kai smirked.

Tala raised an eyebrow. "What?"

The blue-haired teen then pointed over to something in-between the trees. It was all a bit of a blur for Tala, who was not expecting anything of the sort to occur. But as he ventured further, his eyes hit it off with a sign post that read, 'Point Blank Paint balling- this way!'

Immediately he spun around open-mouthed and laughed in shock at Kai, who was stood with his arms folded, grinning. It hit home for Tala that Kai had brought the two of them here on purpose- but it escaped him how Kai knew he loved Paint ball. Did it really matter? The thought never crossed his mind. All he knew was that he wanted to get down and dirty with Kai, right now. With the paint, that is.

"Up for it?" Kai asked cheekily.

"I'm up for anything," Tala smirked back. Absolutely nothing Kai did surprised him any more.

And absolutely _nothing_ was going to ruin what they had, ever again.

* * *

Woooo and it's done! XD I hope it was okay for a 2-month comeback or however long I last updated xD. Oooh 'Point Blank' Paintballing is actually the name of a paint balling thing I've been to. Now you know that very important piece of information, please review!! Uhm... naked cookies? Of anyone you want?


	10. Untamed Secrets

Slightly faster update XD Yay!

Yes I changed my user name, but this one's here to stay. Honest! :P ...... **WARNING** for this chapter. Lots of talk about STI's. This is a long chapter yah, but there's only about two left after this!! I hope you like!!

* * *

Untamed Secrets

"Ow! Bastard!" Tala yelled, just as a huge splodge of red paint hit his back. He knew immediately who it was, and spun around, to see Kai stood laughing at him with his paintball gun pointed at him. He shot him again, making Tala stumble back slightly. "Hey, that's cheating, I'm dead already! You shot me!"

"So?" Kai grinned, shooting him again, this time directly in the shoulder. Arguably the most painful place.

"KAI!" Tala cried, laughing slightly. "What sort of merciless twit are you!"

"A sexy one," Kai snorted back, shooting him again, for the umpteenth time.

The redhead bit down hard on his bottom lip and clutched the handle of his gun harder, then threw himself behind a bush. "All right, you asked for it!" And he opened fire, paintballs flying towards Kai and making that little 'phut' sound like real gunfire. Kai gasped and quickly dived to the side, disappearing behind a purposely built brick wall.

"I'm coming, Kai!" Tala called, and running low but fast, ducked behind the other end of the wall. Aware Kai was on the other side, he slowly bobbed his head up and peered over, only to come face to face with Kai who had taken a paintball out of his gun, and before Tala could dodge, lifted up Tala's helmet and splattered it all over his head.

"Bahahahaaa!" Kai laughed and pointed as Tala stumbled around, stunned.

"Y-You little... right!" Tala suddenly growled and began to chase after Kai.

The slate-haired teen seemed to run like the wind, not surprisingly a very good runner, after all his physique really was something to look at. Tala began to fire shots at Kai, missing hopelessly, until one finally hit Kai in his back leg. "YES! Come here you!"

Kai seemed to take a quick turn and began firing at Tala from a bush, that he could not avoid and decided to retreat instead, turning on tail and ran in the opposite direction despite being severely out of breath. Kai shot up and started to chase him.

Tala bolted towards a huge haystack, hoping to hide in it then attack Kai from there. But suddenly, from no where, Kai seemed to pick up even more amazing speed and before Tala could comprehend, felt two arms wrap around his waist and plummet him into the hay. Both dropped their guns and were left in a tangle for a few minutes, giggling and trying to spit out the hay from their mouths. Both their helmets came off in the commotion and were flung to the side.

That was before everything suddenly settled, and it was just Kai and Tala, Tala's back placed firmly on the ground with Kai hovering over him, a look of lust circling his eyes. They simply stared at each other for a couple of seconds, trying to read each other's thoughts.

The moment felt right. Tala knew what Kai wanted. With that, everything that had happened the night Kai had turned him down... it vanished into thin air, as Kai's lips sailed down and hit Tala's like a block of ice.

It was like everything that had been held back was coming out now, Kai ripping away at Tala's lips. He slowly wrapped his arm around Tala, snuggling against him and continuing to devour his lips like it had been a desire of his for some time. The kiss began to heat up and became more passionate, both of them feeling a certain connection between them.

It was like it was meant to be. Nothing else existed apart from each other. The world around them blacked out and the only focus was sharing the feelings they had and making them known by simple movements. Tala gripped the back of Kai's head and pulled him even closer, entwining the two in the hay even more.

The other fellow paintballers didn't seem to mind, all too busy shooting each other to even care. But stood lurking nearby, was someone who's presence was certainly not welcome, especially to Kai.

Max Tate stood and sneered with a smirk on his face, watching as the two kissed endlessly. He grunted in mockery when they finally stopped, and with a paintball he had been hiding, Kai splashed it into Tala's hair. Tala shouted something obscene, got up then started to chase Kai around the paintball area.

The blonde folded his arms, turning to look disgustedly at Emily and Michael. "And this guy says he's straight, eh? I wonder what Tala will think of Kai once he finds out. And he _will _find out."

---

Bryan trotted down the corridor, tired, after running into Mrs. Woppit who seemed to pick him out for some reason to explain why Tala, Kai, Emily, Michael and Max were playing truant. It made him wonder why in hell she thought he would know, well, about the latter's anyway. Tala wasn't a stranger to playing that little game.

When he reached his locker, he swung it open, and not expecting what he found to be inside...

His purple eyes narrowed in wonder. He pulled out a long, silk suit, one suspiciously similar to something Shakespeare would wear. He blinked unknowingly, not comprehending, and glanced around the corridor, looking for the source. There was no one he knew, most of them were from a couple of years below him.

He turned the suit over and found a small note attached to it. He pulled it off and read;

_Dear beloved,_

_Please join me at the prom on Friday._

_Love Mariah xxx_

Bryan's eyes widened in surprise. _What? What what what? _He smiled, stroking the suit down. He couldn't believe she'd buy him a suit. Well, he already knew the answer.

---

They had been talking for hours. About everything and anything, after Kai had gave Tala a ride home, but Tala insisted they sit around for a while to talk. It was confirmed by Kai that Tala was the only guy he'd ever kissed, the rest of them being girls but he assured him it was _Tala_ that made him realize he was gay.

It was convincing enough, and he believed him. Tala smiled into his eyes. He was most genuine about it. And he'd never felt this happy since... since forever.

"So... where were you last year? Were you actually in prison? Seeing as we are having an honest heart to heart and all..." Tala chuckled.

They were both sat on Tala's porch, face to face, just staring at each other like love-sick puppies. "Heh... well... what do you think? Do you really think it's possible to set someone on fire with your eyes?" Kai asked.

Tala had to think about that one for a second. "Uhm, no..."

Kai nodded. "Well, there's your answer. I, actually, took a year off school. Family problems and all. Evil Grandfather. Not good."

The redhead mouthed, 'oh', and dropped his eye contact from Kai, before looking back up again with a new question. "So... tell me something else about yourself. Something interesting..."

"I'm... hard right now..."

Tala's eyes burst open for a second. Then they creased childishly. "Come on, I'm being serious."

"So am I."

The redhead pulled Kai a fed up smile, to which Kai sighed and laughed. "Okay, okay fine. I know something..." The blue-haired teen leant in then, so he was only inches away from Tala's lips. His breath ghosted against Tala's skin, causing shivers to run down his spine. He started to kiss Tala's neck, mumbling into it.

"You're not as bad as you think you are..." Kai whispered and Tala grunted and moved his head to the side, allowing better access, all the while trying to fight off his laughter as Kai carried on. "You're sexy...." Tala raised his eyebrows. "And hot for me..." The redhead huffed and pushed Kai away, sending him a dirty smile.

"Yeah, and I know you're completely full of yourself. You act like... you're completely used to this?" Tala pondered, but it was more of a question.

Kai tilted his head to the side. "Used to what?"

"_This_!" Tala pointed to himself then Kai. "You know, being with someone."

Kai looked away then, as though not liking what Tala had pointed out. Tala noticed he looked kind of sad, like something was bothering him. Something he wasn't telling him.... _No, no Tala. Don't go back to being Mr. Paranoid arse, Kai's already told you how he feels... he sounded like he meant it, anyway. _

"W-Well..." Kai peeped up at Tala, only moving his eyes but kept his head low. "Actually, not really. I haven't been out with many people, as I said before. You're the first guy I've ever been with, I promise," He gripped Tala's chin in between his fingers, looking further up now. "I promise... you're the only one for me."

Tala stared at him. It wasn't like he could look anywhere else, as Kai's grip was so strong and powerful he felt mesmerised by him and his strength. It was a rather attractive trait.

He smiled and nodded. "Okay Kai, I know. I just find it hard to believe, because, well... you're hot," Tala grinned.

Kai smiled back. "I know." Tala smiled into his eyes. He knew if he stared hard enough, it probably would be possible to get lost in their depths, which he wouldn't at all mind. He finally felt like he was somebody. The thing that attracted him most to Kai was the fact that they were very similar- and Kai _understood_ him, unlike Tyson, his Grandpa, and everyone else. Even Bryan, his best friend, didn't know him to the point Kai seemed to.

"Will you go to the prom with me?"

Tala's mind suddenly blanked out. He looked at Kai unsure, a little hesitant to answer, not at all expecting such a question to come up. "Uh... na, I'll pass."

Kai looked surprised. "What, why?"

It looked like Tala had to think about his answer for a moment. "Well, because, as _you_ already know, social events aren't my thing..."

"They aren't my thing either."

"Good..." Tala raised a single eyebrow. "So then why ask me?" He had an overly-suspicious tone to his voice. He sat back slightly.

"...I just thought it would be overcoming. You know, people won't expect us to go."

The redhead didn't look the slightest bit convinced. "My final answer is no."

And it seemed Kai wasn't taking that as his final answer either. He leant forward in a rather intimidating way, grabbed a hold of Tala's hand and whispered gently. "Come ooon, go with me. You really should go."

Tala used his hand to push Kai away and untwisted their hands, his bluey eyes almost on the verge of erupting into anger. "Why? Why are you so desperate for me to go!?" Kai looked taken aback, surprised by how he'd taken it. "...What's in it for you?" He asked, dreading the answer for all it was worth. His paranoid streak riddled back, that part of his mind telling him there was an ulterior motive for all this. He had always kept asking himself, 'why would Kai want to go out with me?' He could have anyone he wants. But he chose him. The paranoia was taking over rapidly.

"What!" Kai sat back, surprised. "What's in it for me? What sort of stupid-ass question is that! Seeing you, of course, and enjoying an evening together that you won't know you'll enjoy unless you gave the fucking thing a chance! God!" Kai slammed his fist down into the concrete, his eyes narrowing at the pain but continued to shout back. "You really are mad, you know that? Jeez..."

Tala bit his upper lip, hard, as he watched Kai carelessly take a cigarette out of his pocket. "What are you doing!?" He grabbed it and threw it onto the floor. "And you wonder why I'm suspicious about this whole thing!?"

The slate-haired teen gritted his teeth in realization, the stress of the conversation having caused him to take out a fag- _Not a very bright move, Kai. _

Tala swallowed, his voice beginning to soften. "Kai, everything you said earlier. About me being the only one for you. Me being your first. Your feelings for me genuine. Did you mean it?"

"What do _you_ think?" The familiar voice caused Kai to squirm in his shoes. Tala looked towards the porch entrance and was confused to see Max walking towards them, a sneaky grin on his face, with Emily and Michael following. Triple snide smiles was definitely not what Kai needed now.

Kai hit his forehead. "Please go away Max, please..."

"What do _you_ want!" Tala snapped, not at all pleased by the interruption. "Hey.. wait... what do you _mean_?"

Max stopped before them, halting Emily and Michael behind him. All three of them stood with their arms folded, no innocent intent written across their faces- just pure evil. And usually Max was the sweet and innocent sort- this just proved to Kai there was evil in every human being, despite what they showed on the outside.

"Please go away, Max," Kai repeated again, his heart beating faster and faster. Max looked ready to pounce like a panther, and Kai knew that if those words rolled off Max's tongue, he wouldn't have a tongue by the time he finished with him.

"Why don't you want me here?" Max grinned, knowing that question couldn't be answered.

"Max, tell me what you're talking about!" Tala begged, desperation in his voice. He stood up and Kai went up with him, making sure Max saw his fists curl into giant, threatening balls.

Max coughed. "So, that's what he's been telling you? That you're his first? You're his one true love? He's an infectious disease. Literally. I'd steer clear."

"Max..." Kai warned, his teeth gritting together.

"Tell me what you're talking about!" Tala growled, holding up a fist to Max's face. The blonde stared down at it for a second in fear, but then removed it with his hand.

He grinned. He was going to pounce, Kai could feel it. And he was ready to beat the living crap out of him.

"Kai is no 'male-virgin' as he claims to be. God no. Did you forget about our little rumble in the park together, Kai?" Max snickered. "I'm offended."

The redhead's mouth fell open slowly in awe, his eyebrows creasing, not sure what emotion to feel first. His head shot over to Kai who was turning red, veins popping out his head, dead-set intent to kill Max written all over his body. "K-Kai..." Tala stuttered.

"As I said, he's a _disease_. Contagious, and too stupid to realize it- not bothering to get himself checked out, plus bumsex, equals bumsex infection. Savvy?" His blue eyes seemed to dim, as though not entirely enjoying talking about this. But watching Kai squirm, watching their relationship fall apart before his very eyes was enough eye candy he needed.

"_Kai_!?" Tala yelled in shock, as Kai's head bowed towards the ground, looking as though he was about to lash out at someone. But he didn't, instead appeared as though he was trying to control his rapid breathing. "You mean..."

Max nodded. "Yep. Infected Kai infected Maxie. Infected Maxie had to spend time in hospital. Even though it was infected Kai's fault, he never once visited poor Maxie is hospital, and, funnily, left Maxie in the lurch and decided after all, 'he wasn't gay' because he didn't want anyone to find out about it. Well, I agreed not to tell anyone, because I am such a good friend. But then I thought to myself; why should I? He did this to me, he gave me a _fucking_ STI!" Max's eyes lit up in anger. "Makes you wonder. I wonder where he got it from? Another infected guy? I'm clear of course... I don't know about him-"

"ENOUGH!" Even Kai looked up, despite his supposed mini-breakdown, when Tala cried out in what sounded like pain. He was holding his hands to his ears, rocking his head from side to side. "I'VE HEARD ENOUGH! BASTARD!" He shouted at Kai, before turning around and began to rush off towards his front door.

"TALA, WAIT!" Kai out-stretched his hand but didn't bother to run after him.

"Don't sleep with him! If you do, he'll only dump you!" Max called after him.

Kai growled. "DON'T LISTEN TO THE LITTLE PRICK! It wasn't like that, I _swear!_ TALA!" He made one last attempt but failed, the door slamming shut and causing a couple of birds to emerge from the trees above.

Silence.

You wouldn't think there had just been a full-blown argument. Kai slowly turned around like a human clockwork, his eyes grasping Max, glowing in complete wrath. His forehead was sweating, his hands still curled up into giant rocks. "YOU!" He suddenly growled, pouncing forward one step and pointed at Max. "You slimy little bastard." Kai spat at him, only missing Max's feet by inches. "That's what I think of you. You're the _real_ infection. There's too many assholes at school like you. Just-"

Kai stopped, taking a moment to catch his breath. Max's smug little face was asking for a serious beating, but he resisted- he knew it would only make things worse with Tala. He couldn't risk it. "Get out of my _sight_." He spat, sending a death glare in Max's direction.

"With pleasure," Max said, no sounding remorse in his tone. Kai watched in torment as Max and his friends walked off. He could have had him there and then. But he knew if Tala never spoke to him again, he'd have Max's head.

He stared sadly back at Tala's house. He felt so weak and disgusting. He only hoped he hadn't blown things. He didn't know what he'd do if Tala never spoke to him again, and the only possible way he would is giving him some space to calm down and gather his thoughts. Even though he didn't like it, Kai began to slowly walk away from the house, dreading the days to come.

---

It was one day until the prom, and for the past few days, Tala had not spoken a word to him. It was torturous. They barely saw each other at school. Tala always had his phone switched off. Maybe it was time to pay a visit to his house.

Kai sunk into the sofa harder, shaking his head. _No. When he's ready, he'll call me.. won't he?_

Into the Granger household, things weren't so quiet.

"Hiiii-yah!" The old man (although you'd hardly think it!) flew threw the air and almost off the edge of the balcony with his shinai, before he heard a tremendous click in his back. His eyes widened and suddenly he toppled over, dropped the weapon and cried out in pain. "Owchie, owchie, my back!"

"Grandpa..." Tyson sighed, walking out onto the balcony after him. "You're getting too old for this."

He scoffed. "If I can still get horny over lad's mags, then I'm not too old for anything!"

Tyson's eyes widened. "Not that I wanted to know that..."

"Ahem, so?" Grandpa scratched the back of his head, looking over the balcony out into the street. "Such a nice day. Why are you moping about here?"

Tyson beamed. "Oh! So... you actually want me to go out? How about... this Friday? At about seven?" No stranger to Tyson's 'wits', the old man turned around and looked at him wisely.

"Are you talking about the prom?" Tyson nodded. "If Tala doesn't go, you don't go."

The navy-haired boy threw his arms in the air, annoyed. "URGH. Why the _hell_ not! Listen fogey, I want to go, Tala does _not_, it is _not_ fair!

"Hey!" Grandpa pointed at him. "Cheeky little boys don't get to go anywhere, anyway. Stop swearing or I'll have to wash that mouth out of yours. Hm. It might make it easier for me. That way no one would want to kiss a soapy mouth." Before Tyson could open his mouth to speak again, the man silenced him. "Uuh, quiet. You may think all proms are about is dancing, kissing... being with your boyfriend or girlfriend or what have ya. But really, it's all about bedding. _Don't_ argue, because I know I'm right. I know that Brooklyn guy you're seeing is one of those manipulative types..." Tyson didn't even bother to put him right.

"...And he'll only be after one thing. Thus, a trip down to the doctor after catching one of _those_ things. But it may not just be the doc we'll be seeing- it'll be the vicar!" Tyson raised an eyebrow. "For your funeral!"

"Grandpa!" Tyson cried. "Just listen-"

Grandpa carried on, before sighing. "Look, I'm only trying to do what I think is best for you. You may think I'm only trying to scare you with all this- but the sad reality is, you can die from those things. Even if you wanted to go with a _girl_, how could I still risk it? I'm only looking out for you. And I can't if Tala's not there, your big brother. So that's why you're not going. Besides, you're too young. Proms, at sixteen!? We never had proms!"

Tyson rolled his eyes. "Times change you fogey."

"I told you to stop calling me that!"

Tyson sighed. "Sorry, but- I promise I _won't _do anything you wouldn't do. All right?"

"Hm. That's the problem. I'd do everything."

Tyson winced. "Ew..."

The old man shook his head. "Anyway. My word is final."

The stroppy teenager wriggled his nose then screwed up his face. He growled, threw him arms in the air and stormed away.

---

There came a knock to the bedroom door. Tyson ignored it at first, and rolled over on his bed to reach the remote. He turned on the T.V, turned the volume up and sat on his stomach, chin nestling in his hands.

Whoever it was, they knocked again. "Tyson, it's Tala. I heard your argument with Grandpa. Can I come in, we need to talk."

The younger teen sighed and turned down the T.V. "Fine." Immediately the door opened, and Tala stepped into the room, appearing mentally stable, despite what had happened a few days ago. Besides, he was always one to pull through. It was almost like he'd forgotten all about it. "Door."

Tala closed the door and walked over to the window sill, sitting on it before focusing on Tyson. "This whole prom thing- it's not the end of the world."

Tyson snorted in annoyance. "And what do you know? You don't even want to go. I don't want to let Hilary down. You don't even care."

"I do!" Tala insisted.

"If you really did, you'd go to the prom just for me, just for your little brother, but no, you just slope around thinking you're the big 'it' and you're too good for anyone else-"

"Now, you know that's not true," Tala cut in, scowling at Tyson. "I went to Kenny's party for you."

"Yeah, but only because you had that guy. Now you never see him, and suddenly you've gone back to being an asshole," Tyson ignored the glares he was receiving from Tala, but, surprisingly, Tala didn't act upon his words.

"All right so... you think you're grown up enough to go to all these parties. But the way you're acting now, no wonder all Grandpa wants to do is protect you. You see, I'm not going for my own reasons- I have my own beliefs. I'm not going to go somewhere just because someone wants me to. ...See... something happened..." Tala trailed off.

"What?"

He took a deep breath. "I'm guessing... Brooklyn didn't tell you." Tyson wasn't comprehending. "When we were fourteen, we... we went out." The younger teen laughed at first, totally disbelieving. But Tala didn't look like he was joking.

"You're... serious?" Tyson looked overwhelmed. Tala nodded shamefully. "_Why_? You hate him."

"Not at the time. I used to think he was charming. But... well..." Tala bit down on his bottom lip. It didn't take a rocket scientist to work it out- Tyson's mouth opened in awe. "We did it. Once." Tyson remained silent. "Only because other people were doing it. Obviously, it wasn't a good experience. We were both too young. So I refused to do it any more. And... he dumped me," Tala shrugged. "He's a Class One asshole. "From then on, I decided not to do anything just because other people were and expected you to- surely you can understand that?"

Tyson was still in awe. "...But... why didn't he tell anyone?"

"I said I'd cut off his dick if he ever told anyone- I've always lived up to that. His dick is his proudest commendation. Sad, isn't it?" Tala smirked.

"A-And you just... you did this, then kept me at bay by never going out? I bet you still have a thing from him!" Tyson sat up and raised his voice. He jumped off the bed and held open the bedroom door.

Tala walked towards him. "No, no I do not."

"Just... go..." Tyson ordered. Tala didn't argue, and left the room without saying another word.

Everything seemed to be falling apart. And it was now only kicking in, perhaps he was a bit of a hypocrite- he'd done the exact same thing Grandpa was trying to avoid for Tyson; and... the exact same thing Kai did.

Tala just didn't know whether what was broken could be fixed.

* * *

I was on a real high when writing this... I'm so happy but so scared =D I'll share my news for the sake of sharing. I've been applying for the Army and have FINALLY been accepted to go to selection. So if I pass that, I'll officially be allowed to enrol into the Army!!! o_O Scariness or what!! But I actually can't wait. .

Now... enough about that :P I hope you enjoyed, please review!! As always... cookies. Chocolate cookies.


	11. Falling Star

.... First I'm just gonna thank everyone who wished me luck for the Army... it must have helped.. because I passed!!! =D **ohmygodimgonnabeasoldier!!! **I can't tell you how totally happy I am right now!! It hasn't even hit home yet. Christ. I'm starting training January next year =) So I have like, half a year to write as much as possible on here haha!!

Back to the story... Woo this is the second from last chapter!!! XDXDXD I'm not sure why I'm celebrating.. I rather enjoyed writing this =) Why am I talking like its the end! Hahaa!! Uhm.... just... enjoy XD (Sorry I couldn't think of anything better for the title as usual!)

* * *

Falling Star

"Three... Four..." Tala sat on the edge of his bed. Absently, he crumpled up pieces of paper and threw them into his bin, counting when one went in. It was apparent something was bothering him, the mood of the dark, postered walls reflecting his emotions.

Grandpa had been in and out and didn't receive any sort of intelligent response from him, besides, 'hurry up and get the money sent off for that new school.'

There was no point talking to him when he was in one of those moods, so the old man had decided to leave him to sulk on his own. That was the problem with Tala- when people offered him a shoulder, he would break it. Quite literally, if he was in a really murderous mood. Gladly he wasn't, he was more... upset. A rare trait for Tala.

The red head finally sighed and stopped abusing the pieces of paper. His eyes dropped to the floor and twiddled with his thumbs as he thought. _Tyson doesn't realize what a good life he has. He takes everything for granted, he's a stupid little kid. And I've lost Kai because of my stupid childishness- I didn't even give him a chance to talk. _

Earlier he had caught Tyson crying outside. The sort of behaviour he didn't like, something he never did fully understand- until now. But his younger brother had been downer than usual, and he couldn't help but think it was his own fault...

He looked across at something ripped and torn on his desk. He wandered over, picked it up and read it with wandering eyes as though he didn't like to look at it. It was the prom poster... the words tugged at his mind. He knew what he had to do.

---

The T.V blurred in front of Grandpa's face, his full attention set upon it like he was bewitched. That's until Tala suddenly sped past, chattering a quick, "I'm off to the prom" before hurrying off towards the door.

It appeared to have not registered in Grandpa's mind yet and his eyes simply remained glued to the set. "Yeah, funny." Then the door slammed. His head spun quickly around suspiciously as he heard footsteps come hurdling down the steps.

He turned down the TV set and went to investigate. Out into the corridor, stood Tyson, grinning, dressed to the nine's- smart, black suit, a cute little bow tie and a pair of black Italian shoes... The old man nearly jumped out of his skin. "What... is _this_?"

Tyson coughed. "Ahem, well, you know you said I could only go to the prom if Tala did? Well, he's going! Oh and er, the thing I'm wearing, it's called a _prom suit_!"

The old man was gaping in awe. He had to compose himself to fully take in what he was seeing and hearing, more so the fact that he'd actually persuaded Tala, _TALA_, to go to the prom. "Wh-"

Before he could finish there was a knock at the door- Tyson chuckled happily and opened it. His eyebrows rose and eyes twinkled in happiness, taking in the beautiful sight that was Hilary- he found himself almost speechless for a second, her mesmerising presence overwhelming him. He couldn't believe how truly lucky he was- Hilary was gorgeous. "Hey," She smiled sweetly, tapping her pink heels against the floor, gripping her red purse between her fingers and beamed into Tyson's eyes.

She wore a long, flowery pink dress with little ribbons tied along the bottom and the straps at the back crossed over her body, leaving her short, straightened brown hair to flow down the bare of her back.

"Y-You look..." Tyson gulped. She was heavenly.

Grandpa broke their eye contact and grunted loudly. "Who's this? I thought... Brook..." He stared at the girl in somewhat surprise, as though taken aback by her unusual sweetness and innocence. She certainly didn't look like a threat... but he wouldn't let Tyson know he thought that.

"Ah, Gramps, this is Hilary, my girlfriend," Tyson grinned.

"Nice to meet you.. uh.. Mr. Granger..." Hilary nodded politely and held out her hand.

"As seen as I can't drive, Hil's driving, will be back whenever, byyyeee!" Tyson yelled happily and grabbed Hilary's hand before Grandpa could shake it, rushed out of the door and slammed it shut in excitement.

The old man stood staring. Five minutes ago he had both boys in the house safe and sound. Now they were both out there at the probably sexually active school prom, unsafe and vulnerable to sexually frustrated idiots.

---

The dance hall was full of screaming, dancing and laughing teenagers. At the top of the hall, there was a woman singing and a whole orchestra of musicians playing in the darkly-lit room, disco lights swimming across the walls and floor as the rocky music bounced off.

It was slightly depressing for Tala as of yet, seeing as looking for Kai in that mess might take a while. He very much doubted Kai would be in there anyway, and would most likely be away from the noise. He left the room of hyperactive teenagers and waited in a much quieter corridor, hanging off the edge of the staircase balcony.

For a while it didn't seem like Kai was going to come. His heart pounded viciously as he waited, unsure as to what he was going to say yet.

"Wow..." It seemed his time was up. Breath in throat, the red head slowly turned around- and saw Kai stood at the bottom of the stairs, shaped up in a dark suit and open shirt. Under the giant chandelier light, he looked so handsome- and as he climbed the stairs, his features now expressing more clearly, Tala could see that Kai really was more than handsome.

"Wow yourself," Tala smiled back at Kai's nervous one, as the slate-haired teen eyed up his black suit and tie. "You scrub up well, even if you're not wearing a tie."

Kai smiled but didn't seem ready for jokes, his mind appearing elsewhere. "Look, Tala, I have some serious explaining to do..." He rested next to Tala.

Tala's gaze didn't once leave him. "So... it is true then, about Max?"

Kai spat disgustedly. "As much as I can't stand that blonde bastard, yeah, it's true, I did... sleep with him. Well at the time, he was a charmer. Now he's a chameleon." Tala raised his eyebrows but smiled. "Seriously though, I swear to you the only reason I didn't tell you was because I thought you'd think bad of me. I should have known you wouldn't because you're not that sort of person... and... for the record.. I've been clear for ages. It's gone. For good. And besides Max, there has been no one. I didn't catch it off anyone else. It was by swallowing someone else's blood. Don't ask, I used to get into a lot of fights."

The red head nodded. "I see... you do know you shouldn't feel you have to lie to me just to protect your identity. But er... I'm sorry too."

Kai looked bemused. "What for?"

"For questioning your motives about the prom. I know now you always were genuine..." Kai half-smiled. "And also... because, well... I judged quickly. And I'm a hypocrite. I've kinda done what you've done.. but not with Max. With Brooklyn, a few years ago."

The slate-haired teen stared at Tala. "What...? You mean you slept with Brooklyn then stormed off for me having slept with Max?"

Tala raised both eyebrows. "It wasn't just that, you did after all tell me I was the first guy you've been with and I wasn't, and also didn't tell me about the STI..."

"Yeah yeah, okay, point taken.." Kai finally cracked a grin. "Am I forgiven?"

Tala looked straight into his eyes. "You always were forgiven."

Kai smiled. "Thanks. So..." He positioned his arm like a teapot so Tala could link his own arm to him. "Prom time?"

"Indeed sir!"

---

_Knock, knock, knock!_

Grandpa sighed and lifted himself off the couch. Surely Tala and Tyson weren't back already. Maybe it was the police. Maybe something had happened. _Oh god._

He opened the door quickly but wearily, stood and stared for a moment then finally registered who it was standing at the door. His face fell into an angry stare.

"Hi Mr. Granger, I'm Brooklyn. I'm just here to pick up Tyson," The youth smirked with a cocky essence and straightened up his tie smoothly. His smug smile remained plastered over his smackable face even though Grandpa looked like he was about to pounce on him and kill him.

Slowly, he closed the door on him without saying a word.

Brooklyn's face dropped into puzzlement.

---

Back at the prom, the current song was just finishing and everyone burst into rounds of applause, including Tala and Kai, who were stood staring at each other as they showed their appreciation under the disco lights. The feelings between them were vacant, brighter than any of the lights that were whirling around.

"Tala!" Tala spun around to see Bryan rushing towards him, looking worried.

"What's up Bryan?" Asked Tala.

"Have you seen Mariah? She said she'd be here, but I haven't seen her!" The teen looked on the verge of giving up.

Tala pouted. "Uh, no... " Bryan sighed helplessly and gazed around, searching frantically.

Kai smirked. He patted Bryan on the shoulder then pointed over to the stage, to which Bryan followed immediately- and there, standing next to the singer, was Mariah, waving at him giddily. His purple eyes widened in surprise, then moved his gaze up and down her frame, examining her tight, red dress and her bare legs.

As she jumped from the stage and wandered towards him, his eyes remained clasped on her, and when she finally reached him, he immediately grabbed a hold of her hand and waist. "You look amazing," He grinned. Luckily for her, it was dark so he missed the blush on her cheeks. She smiled back.

"Thanks. You like the suit?"

"Love it!"

Kai and Tala sighed happily. Now that those two were united, they could finally focus on each other. They continued to look into each other's eyes. But then Tala's jaw dropped. The next song that came on truly had him stunned, seeing as all the music was live... which meant...

"OH MY GOD!" He suddenly yelled, watching Kai's cunning face turn into a huge knowing smirk. "IT'S-"

He felt his heart beat suddenly soar beyond anything he'd felt before as the singing seemed to inch closer, and then before he knew it, emerging from the crowd was none other than Vanilla Sky, his all time favourite band. They were playing 'Never Falling Star' right in front of him, the lead singer flopping around his black hair and grinning at Tala.

He couldn't believe it. He suddenly felt so starstruck that he felt his legs tremble and had to clutch onto Kai's shoulder to keep himself stable. Then, the singer turned around and headed back to the stage, the chorus hitting their ears.

_You're my never falling star and  
You're my world and everything  
I had_

The red head turned to Kai in awe who was still smirking knowingly. "Kai?!"

The slate-haired teen grabbed Tala's hand abruptly and pulled him close to his chest, their momentous breathing colliding as their chests rose against each other. "I called in a favour," Kai smirked, resting his forehead gently against Tala's. Tala could feel his light breath against his neck.

He couldn't believe this was real. Kai actually did this all for him. He suddenly let out a slight squeal and hugged Kai back, wrapping his two heavy arms around Kai's waist. "You toss pot! I can't believe you'd do this for me."

"Why don't you believe it? You should know by now I'd do anything for you... this song.. it's for you." Tala saw that in Kai's eyes, this wasn't something he did normally as he looked slightly uncomfortable saying these things. The wolf grinned. And that's why he liked him.

"Right, let's dance!" Tala suddenly proclaimed, and the two set off into a huge dancing frenzy. Tala let go of Kai's chest and hand in hand, began to break some moves. Kai snorted in laughter at the sudden outburst, from sentimental to outright mad. That was Tala all over.

They started to jump in the air like a couple of rockers, hand in hand, among all the other kids who weren't as crazy, but hyperactive nonetheless. Although some were dancing quite slowly, which begged the question to Tala...

"This is the sort of song you don't know whether to dance slow or fast too." He smirked.

Kai stopped dancing and grabbed a hold of Tala, much to his bewilderment. "Fine, let's try slow..."

"No, that's not what I was suggesting.." Embarrassed, Tala's eyes widened and he tried to escape from his tight embrace.

"Come here, you idiot," Kai sniggered and pulled Tala so close there was hardly enough room to breathe. They began to sway it out, gently, much calmer from Tala's sort of dancing. It was actually quite nice, being so close to Kai, resting his head against his shoulder... it was warm and cuddly.

And Tala began to like it, despite not being a fan of that sort of dancing. Well, he was now...

_You're my never falling star and  
You're my world my everything and  
You're my never falling star and  
You're my dreams and everything_

---

Slightly sweaty and tired, Tyson stood in front of the mirror in the boy's toilets, smiling to himself. After all that dancing and kissing with Hilary he was completely out of it. Refreshing himself up, he dabbed a little water around his hot face.

Suddenly, his smile faded away when he caught something in the mirror... or someone... coming towards him with a sly grin on his face. "Ray!?" Tyson cried, turning around to face his ex-friend.

Ray's yellow eyes glowed with bitchiness, suggesting he had no friendly intentions. He did look the part though, he wore a nice, long suit that reached his knees, almost like a dress, and smart red tie. His long, black hair was tied back into a high bun. He flashed Tyson his teeth.

"Hi Tyson... you look nice," Ray sneered, his sarcasm showing through as he looked Tyson's worn-out body up and down.

Tyson scowled. "What do you want? I thought you weren't coming, since you don't have a date."

Ray crossed his arms. "Wrong. Brooklyn picked me up."

Tyson looked taken aback. Not that he really cared, but it really did show how much better off he was without Brooklyn. He couldn't believe he had ever liked him. _That slime ball... _"Oh, well, congrats, don't let me stop you from making the biggest mistake of your life."

The yellow-eyed teen huffed but smirked. "You have your little slapper now, don't be so jealous." Tyson's face turned red with anger, but before he could counter-attack, Ray spoke again. "Haha. Brooklyn never wanted you anyway. Well, he did, but not in the way you thought. He made a bet with his friends that he'd fuck you tonight."

Tyson's eyes grew wide with shock. How dare he. How dare _Ray_, who had once been his best friend. He couldn't have been more back-stabbed. In fury, he gasped and stormed straight past Ray and out of the toilets.

---

Kai and Tala were still swinging away, now back to their all-out crazy dancing. They both literally stood out among the crowd, laughing away as they pounded their way through everyone.

Suddenly Tala snorted in laughter. "Look who's perving on us," Kai followed Tala's eye contact and saw a certain blonde-haired idiot stood staring at them both, a grim expression on his face. "Someone needs a wowwy pop." Tala chuckled.

Kai smirked. "He doesn't look too happy. I wonder why."

Tala grinned. "Because we're happy, that's why!" Kai couldn't help but agree.

The two were so involved with each other, neither of them noticed Brooklyn come storming up from behind Kai. Suddenly Kai felt someone slap his shoulder and he was pulled aside. "Hey!" Brooklyn yelled, dragging Kai by the shoulder away from Tala.

The red head looked on not so suspiciously, as Kai struggled with Brooklyn then finally swiped away his hand, staring at him angrily in the eyes. "What was that for!?"

"YOU!" Brooklyn snorted, his red face showing he was ready to erupt into wrath. His voice was loud and prominent, striking Kai that he might say something he didn't want Tala to hear... and he would, unless his voice didn't die down. "Why the _fuck_ is Tyson parading around with that little bitch!?" Kai's eyes widened in horror. "I PAYED you to take out Tala not for Tyson to swan off with a GIRL!"

_Shit. Shit, shit shit!_

Kai spun around, hoping Tala hadn't heard...

But he had. And Kai had never seen the expression on Tala's face before. It was new to him. And by the looks of it, it was new to Tala, too.

Before he could say anything, Tala was gone. Kai took a deep breath. He wondered just how many times he could disappoint Tala before he kicked him out of his life for good. He threw Brooklyn a glare before running off after him.

Stood nearby watching was Max, his usual sly grin plastered against it. Mariah and Bryan, who were in a tight embrace, barged into Max on purpose upon realising he was laughing at them, then swayed over to Hilary who had been oblivious to the whole thing.

"Hilary! Better watch out, Brooklyn's just confronted Kai! He's not happy- stay away from him!" Mariah warned, concerned for her friend. "Where's Tyson?"

The brunette looked frantic. "Oh god... I dunno, he went to the toilets a while ago..."

"Oi!" That voice. Hilary turned around slowly, fear whirling in her eyes when she saw who it was- Brooklyn was coming towards her, fists curled, face intent on providing her with some bruises. In an effort to protect her friend, Mariah jumped in front of her cowering stance, arms outstretched.

"Now, wait a second Brooklyn-"

"Move, bitch!" He pulled out all stops and didn't seem to care what anyone thought. He grabbed Mariah by the arm and shoved her out of the way, her sleek body falling into Bryan's arms.

Bryan's jaw fell open in shock, his eyes widening in complete anger. "YOU BASTARD! You fucking-" He let go of Mariah and stomped towards Brooklyn, swinging his fist but Brooklyn dodged and pushed him back, continuing his parade towards Hilary.

Max was jumping up and down, enjoying the show immensely. "YES! 2, 4, 6, 8 WHO DO WE APPRECIATE! BROOK- OWWWWW!" Bryan clocked him and he fell back, clutching his nose in pain.

"You little bitch. Who do you think you've been messing with here!? You and Tyson are gonna pay, big style-" Hilary's ruby eyes grew wide in fear when Brooklyn outstretched his fist, and unable to defend herself, waited for it to hit her face.

The ginger felt a tap on his shoulder. He ignored it, but then from no where, someone came out and swung a punch, clasping him in the face. "Ow!" He stumbled back, holding his eye, and the whole room fell silent as they all watched in amazement... no one had even seen Brooklyn receive a punch.. only give them.

He opened his eyes slowly, to see Tyson stood in front of him, fists still raised. "That was for trying to punch Hilary, you puff!" He outstretched his arm again and sent another punch into his mouth, hearing a satisfactory click from his jaw. He cried out again. "That was for my brother!" He then grabbed a hold of him and kneed him ungracefully in the crotch. Everyone winced as Brooklyn stumbled to the floor in pain, his hands grabbing a hold of himself. "And that was for me!"

Everyone stared. Brooklyn, God of everything had just been beaten up by someone smaller and younger than him.

"Hahaha!! OWNED!" Some randomer called out from the crowd. No one even bothered to help Brooklyn up, and the music started again. He was left clutching painful bits as everyone danced around him, and they all knew it was the least he deserved. Not even Max did, he was still running around clutching his nose in pain.

"Are you okay?" Tyson asked, holding Hilary's hand to sooth her nerves.

Hilary looked down at their entwined hands. "I am now. He hurt Mariah..."

"No, I'm fine," the pink-haired girl came up from behind. "He's actually as soft as shit. The 'big and hard' ones usually are."

"He's a jerk," Tyson scoffed. "Hilary... " Tyson looked into her eyes serenely. Mariah smiled, knowing it was her cue to leave them alone, and wandered off with Bryan. He stared at her for some time, before leaning down and collapsing his lips over hers.

---

"Tala, please, wait!" Kai cried, chasing after Tala. When he finally caught up with him, he grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around. Tala shrugged off his hand furiously.

"How could you do it!?" Surprisingly, Tala's voice wasn't filled with rage, but with upset, his voice breaking in dismay. "Really, how could you!? You don't deserve a chance to explain, you were _paid _to take me out! How can that be justified!? And by _Brooklyn_! I _hate_ him!"

He continued his rampage of feelings. "You've hurt me for the last time, Kai!" Not once did Tala cry, but his voice trembled with so much pain Kai didn't know where to put himself. He didn't want to upset him further. Tala began to run off, but Kai caught him again.

"No, it wasn't like that, really... "

"Then what the FUCK WAS IT LIKE!?" His voice soared into new-found hysteria. "Was it a 'how many people can you effect' sort of thing or what? Were you paid extra by how seriously ill you could make me?"

Kai shook his head slowly in shock. "Tala, how could you even think that.." His voice was gentle and sounded almost as hurt as Tala. "No, no, no. I didn't even care about the money. That was because of Max, he was black-mailing me, I wasn't going to pay that bastard, so I took advantage of Brooklyn, but please, believe me, I never took advantage of you! I care about you!"

Tala wasn't having any of it. He shook his head in utter disgust. "No. You only care about yourself... I always knew this was a set up!"

Kai felt tears circle the rim of his eyes, but they didn't fall. He simply watched as Tala rushed off, leaving him alone.

He knew it was all he deserved. What had once been an innocent attempt to tame, had ended in destroying. He was a falling star.

* * *

XD There... poor Tala, lol! Next chapter is the last.... so... i hope you liked it!!!! Cookies! XD

(I don't own song Never Falling Star, or Vanilla Sky, however I wouldn't mind owning those sex gods, rawr!!)


	12. The Taming of the Wolf

Last chapter! :) I haven't got much else to say... xD I hope you enjoy it!

* * *

The Taming of the Wolf

The glare of the sun caused Tala's eyes to slowly slide shut, much to his annoyance, as he sat on his porch trying to read. It really wasn't one of those days where you could just sit and relax with a good book. The weather was glorious and just pestered him to go make the most of it, only he definitely wasn't in the mood.

Right now it felt like he never would be. It felt like a part of him was missing, that his heart had been ripped in two. Worst of all he couldn't stop thinking about Kai- even though he was aching with hurt and he knew he was better off without him, he couldn't help but question _why_ it still hurt so much.

"Hey," Tala looked around to see Tyson coming towards him with a cup of something. Tyson slumped himself down beside Tala and handed him the cup. "It's er... hot chocolate. Sorry, I know it's kinda hot and all but me and Hilary are taking some with us sailing and it does actually get kinda cold out there-"

Tala stopped him there, raising his hand. "Really, it's fine," He smiled sadly, taking the cup and resting it on his lap. "Thanks."

Despite the awkward sensitive frame Tala was now, it didn't stop Tyson wanting to explain himself a little further, into much deeper and sensitive things. "Did I ever thank you for going to the prom? Well if I didn't.. I'm doing it now. So thanks, it meant so much."

The red head simply nodded and smiled. "No problem." He bowed his head, his dull eyes flickering lightly under the yellow sun. Tyson hated seeing his brother so down, after everything he had done for him. It just made him want to pour out the truth, to show Tala that Kai really wasn't a bad person. "At least you have Hilary now, for good, now that annoying ginger is out of the way."

Tyson bit his bottom lip, hard. "B-But.. you do have Kai. You still do, if you wanted."

Tala shook his head, like there was no other alternative. "No I don't. What he's done.. is unforgivable. End of."

"No, not end of!" Tala looked at him surprised. "Kai... Kai is not to blame. Don't blame him. I think the lesson we can all learn is that we've all been bitches at some point- so forgiveness is okay. You see... before me and Hil got together, we devised a plan to get you a boyfriend, and I led her to believe it was so we could date," Tala's face didn't shift. He looked blank. "But.. actually I thought I wanted Brooklyn, you know, to get in with the popular crew. Well, now I've realised I don't need them. Fortunately, Kai happened to be the chosen one, and Hilary set upon getting you and Kai together. Trust me, it was not in spite, but for our own selfish needs. We all acted like jerks. But Hilary forgave me, so the least you could do is forgive Kai."

"..." Tala was silent. Looking in his blue eyes, Tyson couldn't tell what his reaction would be yet- his pale face was still pale, his lips remained still and clasped together. Then slowly, he opened them, looking away from Tyson.

"You don't seem surprised?" Tyson asked suddenly.

"I'm not," Tala answered, not sounding angry or annoyed, but more relieved.

"I'm not sure you know the full extent Kai has gone for you. He always told Hilary and Mariah he was straight, we think it was because he was scared to come out," Tala didn't bother to put his brother right, too surprised by what he was hearing. "But, he's come out now, and he's realised it's all okay. He isn't getting the attention homosexual people usually get, because he's Kai, and most people know what'd happen if they hit on him. He'll set them on fire with his eyes."

Tala couldn't help but giggle. Tyson smirked, happy to finally see a genuine smile come from his brother's mouth.

"Hi," The two boys looked around and their eyes met Hilary, who was wearing a cute summery dress and her brown hair was tied up in a small pony-tail. "You ready?"

Tyson threw her a smile. "Hey. Yeah." He turned back to Tala. "So, I just thought you should know that... You wanna come sailing?"

Tala laughed at the prospect of going sailing with _Tyson_ and _Hilary_. "No thanks. You two have fun."

Tyson sighed and stood up, giving Tala a slight wave along with Hilary, then the two wandered off together.

"Hey hey, where are those two off to?" Just when Tala thought he was rid of annoyances, Grandpa came from no where and stood beside him, and eyebrow raised as Tyson and Hilary skipped off down the street together.

Tala sighed. "Oh, Tyson's just off for an abortion."

Grandpa stared at him for a second, eyes wide. Then he quickly realised the obvious. "Ha. Ha. You're funny," He sang sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"You asked."

The old man sat down next to Tala. "How was the dance?"

"Gee, the questions are just flooding my way huh?" Tala rolled his eyes back, but gave in to Grandpa's stern look. "Only good part was when Tyson beat up Brooklyn."

"Tyson did _what_!?" The man jumped up suddenly and appeared frantic, but then he quickly sat back down and ran a hand casually through Tala's hair. "Cool."

Tala snorted. "Please don't say that."

"What, 'cool'? You don't think I'm cool? You should do, after this..." He began to mumble into his hand towards the end, catching Tala's attention for real, now.

"Why's that?" He asked curiously, putting down his book. Not that he'd even been reading it anyway, he'd read the first line about a hundred times, and he was sick of hearing about where the Dursleys lived.

Grandpa looked unusually shifty, making Tala suspect he'd been up to no good... but perhaps a good he may actually like. "I've done it. That's it. I've sent off the money to your new school. Come September when you leave this place, you'll be hiking off to that pish posh school."

Tala's blue eyes stared. He looked like he was about to faint, about to burst out into sudden hysterics, but instead, to the old man's surprise, he simply sprang forward and flung his arms around him. Never in his years of bringing Tala up had he ever received a hug from him. Well, besides his first visit to Disney Land, but that aside, Grandpa couldn't help but smile. He slowly wrapped his two arms around the boy, unfortunately for him, just as Tala pulled away, but his reaction most definitely wasn't a disappointment.

"Grandpa..." Tala looked truly blessed. "Thank you. You don't know how much this means. I really do need this, thank you."

The old man half-smiled and nodded, appearing unsure as to whether he regretted his actions. "I can tell. But.. uh. I don't know how to say this." The man got more comfortable, wrapped a fuller arm around Tala this time and pulled him towards him, whether he liked it or not. There was a slight hesitation but no struggle. "I can't believe how fast you've grown up. I just can't bear to think in two years, Tyson will be heading off to a new school too, with new hopes, new opportunities.."

"New infectious dirty teenagers..."

Grandpa's eyes rose open.

Tala smirked. "Joking."

"Well don't, 'cos I'm serious dude. You're no longer my young, innocent lad. You're free," The man sighed. "Now you can rumble around with as many guys as you want."

The red head gasped but then snorted in laughter upon seeing Grandpa finally crack a cheeky smile. "I'll bear that in mind."

Grandpa's smile faded slightly. "Seriously though, you know where I'm coming from? Parents, guardians, whatever, find it hard to take in that their offspring are growing up. And I can see that you have..."

Tala wriggled away from Grandpa's grip in slight embarrassment, but he reassured him he knew where he was coming from. "Yeah I understand. Thanks again Gramps. You are cool." He swallowed as he said that.

Grandpa stared at Tala, then smiled. He had the feeling Tala didn't quite understand yet, and probably wouldn't for a long time, not until at least he had kids of his own.

---

It was the first day back at school since the events of the prom. In the classroom, all people talked about was how awesome it was, especially seeing as Brooklyn had wandered into class with a bandage over his nose. Max did too, but attention was mainly focused on Brooklyn. It was like watching the most popular guy in the world fall through his own fingers.

Tala loved the fact that he'd be the laughing stock for weeks. But hated the fact Kai was in his class, and though how much he tried, he couldn't help thinking about him, and worst of all, looking at him. The slate-haired teen sat twiddling his thumbs at the back of the class, looking like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.

The red head scowled and turned back to face the front of the class. As far as he was concerned, he didn't deserve any sympathy.

"Right, class, I hope you've all finished that poem I assigned for you all. Oh..." Mr. Morgan stopped and glanced over at Brooklyn with a smirk. "Except Brooklyn over there..." He cracked up into laughter. "..Who has an excuse. Hahaha." The ginger-haired teen growled in annoyance and buried his head into his arms, obviously ashamed of the bandage wrapped around his nose. "I always knew one day some girl would beat the crap out of you. And here we are. Man, I should have put a bet on."

The whole class started to snigger, but not for long. "All right, quieten down! I want a volunteer to read their poem out loud." The class fell into silence. "Anyone?"

Everyone looked around, seeing no hands immediately shoot into the air. But then one did, one that surprised everyone- especially Kai.

"I will Mr. Morgan," Tala said, standing up with his English book.

Kai looked over, suddenly getting a dark feeling in the pit of his stomach. He could hardly stand the pain, hearing Tala's voice was like wanting something you couldn't have. But he didn't dare run out of the class, despite how much he wanted to, and watched attentively as Tala made his way up to the front of the class.

Mr. Morgan sighed. "Damn, I'm gonna need anti-depressants after this..." He went and sat down at his desk, leaving Tala to face everyone alone. He stood there for a moment, almost as though he was enduring stage fright, but Kai knew that wasn't it- he was looking directly at him, a thoughtful expression on his face.

Then he began to read.

"_I hate the way you strut around, and the way you think you're always right. I hate the way you help me when I'm pissed, I hate it when you care. I hate your stupid sexy vests, and the way you have your hair. I hate you so much it makes me sick... that's what makes me tick_."

He paused, and looked away from Kai's shocked face. He ignored it and continued.

"_I hate the way you're so untamed, I hate the way you're so unblamed. I hate that we're so mismatched... but even worse that we're so well matched_," Tala took a deep breath.

"_I hate it when you lie, and the fact that it makes me cry_," Inevitably, the class stared stunned when Tala actually began to produce tears. Real life, watery tears, flowing from his diamond eyes and draining down his bright red cheeks. Tala looked back up at Kai.

Kai felt nothing but shock and guilt clog in his throat, as Tala's tears continued to fall, his failed attempts to stop causing greater concern among the class. Tala never cried. He never showed emotion. He had changed, and Kai couldn't help but clasp the feeling it was all his fault. "_But mostly I hate the way I don't hate you; Not then, not now, not even at all._"

Tala's watery eyes finally fell from Kai's distraught gaze, and snapped shut his English book. The tension between them was clear and emotional, Kai could almost feel Tala's tears in his own eyes. The class, even Mr. Morgan, felt something was not right between them, and before anyone could say a word, Tala covered his face with his trembling hand and walked out of the class.

There was a long silence. Kai clasped his two hands together, trying to squeeze away the pain. But it wouldn't go. The pressure on his eyes was becoming harder to contain; he was welling up, and now that all eyes were on him, it didn't feel right if he just sat there emotionless.

A single tear slid down his cheek.

---

The school bell called to signal the end of the day. After Mr. Morgan's class, Tala had spent his time in the school gardens, where him and Kai sometimes hung out. He wasn't sure what lured him there, or perhaps he did, and it was the fact he'd heard from Bryan that Kai had went home early.

The whole thing made him feel sick. And as he wandered over to his car, keys in hands, he felt a greater sickness against the rim of his stomach.

Something inside his car caught his eye, and weirdly, the car window was open... but it didn't take a genius or a non-musical instrument fan to work out what it was. Tala's clueless eyes burst open in surprise, and it appeared that a reoccurring sparkle re-entered his pupils, as he pulled out a long, smart white guitar, one that he'd had his eye on for some time.

A million questions sped through his head- _What? Who? Why?_

As he stroked the shiny white paint with a half-grin on his face, all his questions (well, most) were suddenly answered all at once- with one simple word.

"Hey," Kai's voice.

The wolf looked up and stood over his shoulder, surprisingly, was Kai, dressed in his usual tight vest and had his hair the way Tala had always secretly disliked. But for some reason he didn't hate him. He didn't feel any sort of hate, just the need to hug him and thank him.

"This guitar.. is it for me?" Tala asked, almost gaping.

Kai looked down, a little bashful, then nodded. "Yeah, all for you."

Tala was almost speechless. "B-But.. h...how did you know?"

Kai smiled at him then patted his nose. Tala bit his bottom lip, and what looked to be a vain smile of force, turned into a natural and happy smile. "I thought you'd like it."

"I love it!" Tala exclaimed, placing it back through his car window. "I won't even ask how you got the window open."

Kai rubbed the back of his head awkwardly before talking slowly. "I thought you deserved it, too. Because, well... some bastard bribed me for his own needs into taking out this really great guy..." Tala listened attentively, his mouth open in awe a little. "But, I.. uhm..." He blushed, again. He really was having a field day of turning red. "...I screwed it all up, because I.. fell for him. Big time."

The red head was even blushing himself now. "You know... since I've met you, I've felt myself changing. I've never shed a tear in front of anyone before, that was the first time in front of a class full of morons. I feel... strange."

"Tamed?" Kai asked.

Tala raised an eyebrow. "Yeah... kind of. So... do you really....?"

Kai let out a nervous sigh and nodded. "It's not everyday you find someone who'll _flash_ the _teacher_ to get you out of detention... and a gay teacher, too."

Tala's jaw dropped open and the two of them started to giggle, Tala's radiant red cheeks coming through even stronger now. "Oh, God.. that's harsh."

The slate-haired teen grinned. He wasn't sure, but the moment seemed to stay still for a while like a photograph, and if he believed correctly, he only had one shot at this.. so he decided to take this as a sign of Tala's forgiveness. Without hesitating, he leapt forward with his hand and placed it against Tala's cheek.

Tala didn't struggle and even grew closer to him, running his hand across Kai's shoulder. As though it was like two long-lost lovers being reunited, Kai's lips crashed against Tala's, the passion between them rekindling like it had once been lost. The red head hugged into the kiss, allowing Kai to run his lips all over his, but before he had the chance to enter his mouth, Tala quickly pulled back, much to his confusion.

"Hey, you can't just buy me stuff every time you act like a jerk, though. I mean one guitar is cool, but you can't use it as a guilt trip."

Kai winced and ran a hand through Tala's thick, devilish hair. "Yeah, I know... but there won't be a next time. I'll be a good boy from now on," He grinned. "Oh, and there is always tickets to go see your favourite band..."

Tala laughed. "I'll take it!" Kai pulled him in again, this time kissing him harder and with so much passion it was almost like steam was emerging from between them. Tala opened his mouth, allowing Kai to slide in his tongue, and as the two remained uncaring for the people who passed and saw the scene, the more involved they became.

"Oh-" Tala once again broke it off, much to Kai's demise. "And I don't appreciate you- MM-" Kai pulled Tala back into the kiss, muffling his voice and disallowing him from complaining any more. Tala smirked against him and sighed as Kai's murderous grip pulled him closer and the entwined two set off into a little world of their own.

---

Unfortunately for them both, Tala was still off to his new school in September, making it inevitable that they'd both have to go their separate ways. Even so, after everything they'd been through together, the sadness, happiness, kissing, crude insults, sexual tension, jokes, laughs, and tears, it seemed a shame to give it all up now. That's why they'd still find a way to be together. Because it was worth it, even if it was only 5-minute quickies at the weekend.

And long, romantic trips paint balling.

**The End**

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J'AI FINI !!!!! This story actually took me longer than I expected, lol! Well I had much fun writing this, and I really hope you liked reading it. I thank you all for your kind reviews. They were all read and very much appreciated! I shall send you all personally baked Kai cookies if you review for a final time xD Haha, well... kinda.

Much love!

**R.I.P Heath Ledger.**


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